California shooter studied at Al-Huda institute: teacher

Published December 7, 2015
— Reuters/file
— Reuters/file
Students arrive at Al-Huda Institute, one of the most high-profile religious teaching centre for females, in Multan on December 7, 2015, where female US shooter Tashfeen Malik studied. — AFP
Students arrive at Al-Huda Institute, one of the most high-profile religious teaching centre for females, in Multan on December 7, 2015, where female US shooter Tashfeen Malik studied. — AFP
Students arrive at Al-Huda Institute, one of the most high-profile religious teaching centre for females, in Multan on December 7, 2015, where female US shooter Tashfeen Malik studied. — AFP
Students arrive at Al-Huda Institute, one of the most high-profile religious teaching centre for females, in Multan on December 7, 2015, where female US shooter Tashfeen Malik studied. — AFP

MULTAN: The woman who, with her husband, shot dead 14 people in California last week attended one of the most high-profile religious teaching centres for women in Pakistan, a teacher at the Al-Huda institute told AFP Monday.

Tashfeen Malik, 29, studied at the Al-Huda Institute in Multan, which admits middle-class women and also has offices in the US, the UAE, India and the UK, the teacher at the teaching centre who gave her name only as Muqadas said.

"It was a two-year course, but she did not finish it," the teacher Muqadas said. "She was a good girl. I don't know why she left and what happened to her."

The teacher did not say when Malik studied at the Al-Huda institute, but fellow classmates at the Bahauddin Zakariya University said she had attended the institute after classes at the university, which she attended from 2007-2013.

Read: Fissures in the middle

This undated photo provided by the FBI shows Tafsheen Malik. —AP/file
This undated photo provided by the FBI shows Tafsheen Malik. —AP/file

Farhat Hashmi’s organisation, Al-Huda institute, has no known extremist links, though it has come under fire in the past from critics who say its ideology is extremist in nature.

Malik and her husband Syed Farook, 28, went on a killing spree at a social services centre in San Bernardino. Investigators suspect that Malik, who went to the United States (US) on a fiancee's visa and spent extended periods of time in both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, may have radicalised her husband.

The probe is trying to establish if she had contact with radicals in either country.

An administration official at the academy in Multan said he could neither confirm nor deny that Malik had studied there, and said he would discuss the issue with management.

"But we have nothing to do with it (the shooting) and are not responsible for our students' personal acts," he added.

One of Malik's former classmates at the Bahauddin Zakariya University in Multan, where she studied pharmacology, told AFP she had attended the institute after classes, saying she "drastically changed" during her time there.

"Gradually she became more serious and strict," said the student, requesting anonymity.

A second university student who also requested anonymity confirmed the account.

Pakistan has pledged to crack down on religious seminaries suspected of being breeding grounds for intolerance or even fostering extremism, with the country's information minister Pervez Rashid terming them "universities of illiteracy and ignorance". However the government's efforts to rein in madrassas have prompted anger from many clerics.

Also read: California rampage: Female shooter pledged allegiance to IS, report says

Opinion

Editorial

Military option
Updated 21 Nov, 2024

Military option

While restoring peace is essential, addressing Balochistan’s socioeconomic deprivation is equally important.
HIV/AIDS disaster
21 Nov, 2024

HIV/AIDS disaster

A TORTUROUS sense of déjà vu is attached to the latest health fiasco at Multan’s Nishtar Hospital. The largest...
Dubious pardon
21 Nov, 2024

Dubious pardon

IT is disturbing how a crime as grave as custodial death has culminated in an out-of-court ‘settlement’. The...
Islamabad protest
Updated 20 Nov, 2024

Islamabad protest

As Nov 24 draws nearer, both the PTI and the Islamabad administration must remain wary and keep within the limits of reason and the law.
PIA uncertainty
20 Nov, 2024

PIA uncertainty

THE failed attempt to privatise the national flag carrier late last month has led to a fierce debate around the...
T20 disappointment
20 Nov, 2024

T20 disappointment

AFTER experiencing the historic high of the One-day International series triumph against Australia, Pakistan came...