ISLAMABAD: The attack on a local prayer leader and the killing of his wife were linked to a dispute over buildings with a religious significance in a remote village at the edge of Banigala, police and locals told Dawn.

A mosque, a Sufi shrine and a madressah – located in close proximity to each other – are at the centre of the dispute that has divided the loyalties of villagers and plunged this little hamlet into an uneasy calm.

Qari Saghir Ahmed, the man who was injured in Sunday’s attack at his residence inside the seminary, used to be the prayer leader at the Jamia Masjid Faizan-i-Madina, locals say. Since he lost his job, however, Qari Ahmed has made the seminary, Darul Uloom Gulistan-i-Ahle Bayt, his base of operations.

Dispute between mosque, shrine management and cleric led to bad blood; police say attack may have been ‘staged’

The nearby shrine of Baba Shah Hussain Shurti, which is said to be hundreds of years old, is administered by the same committee that oversees the affairs of the mosque.

Locals claim that the shrine affords a handsome source of income, while both the mosque and the madressah are also located on prime land. “Whoever gets possession of all three will get their hands on the income generated here, apart from a large swath of land, between 60 to 90 kanals, which also includes a sacred pond.”

Located in the middle of all three buildings, the water in the pond, villagers believe, has curative powers. “Rubbing the mud and the green algae from the pond on one’s skin can cure many diseases and ailments,” a villager said.

Sectarian divide

The majority of the village subscribes to the Barelvi school of thought, but there are a small number of Deobandis residing there as well. During his time as prayer leader at the mosque, Qari Ahmed – who claims to subscribe to the Ahle Sunnat school of thought – used to openly criticise Barelvi teachings, especially when the annual Urs celebrations were held at the shrine of Baba Shah Hussain Shurti.

Due to this intolerant attitude, Qari Ahmed was sacked from the mosque two years ago and replaced with Qari Sher Mohammad – a Barelvi cleric.

However, this did not sit well with everyone, and those of the Deobandi persuasion proceeded to establish the Gulistan-i-Ahle Bayt seminary for themselves. Locals, however, said that while most of the village prayed at the main mosque, only a handful of villagers and seminary students would pray at the madressah.

Accusations

“On Aug 4, 2015, a case was registered against Qari Mohammad at the Saddar Beruni police station in Rawalpindi on the complaint of a woman, which included charges under the Telegraph Act,” police told Dawn, adding that the woman had accused the cleric of making obnoxious phone calls.

Copies of the FIR were distributed among the villagers by Qari Ahmed and his supporters, locals said, suggesting that Qari Ahmed had been behind the case.

Four days later, Qari Mohammad was approached by two men from the village, who invited him to a religious ceremony. This was a ruse, and the prayer leader was bundled into their car and manhandled.

According to an FIR of the incident, registered by Qari Mohammad, the two men abducted him in their Toyota Corolla, and drove around different parts of Banigala.

During the ordeal, the cleric was made to sign a written note at gunpoint, affirming that he used to call the woman who had registered the initial FIR against him, and also filmed a forced confession.

FIR No 96, registered by Qari Mohammad with Banigala police, included charges under PPC 109, 384 and 389, which deal with abetment, extortion and intimidation.

In all of this, villagers said, the majority – as well as the mosque and its administrative committee – was on Qari Mohammad’s side. But Qari Ahmed’s supporters were bent on getting their man restored to his former position.

In this context, police sources claimed that Sunday’s attack on the cleric’s home may have been deliberately staged to implicate Qari Mohammad and that the death of Sobia Bibi – Qari Ahmed’s wife – may have been an unintended consequence.

Circumstantial evidence, such as Qari Ahmed’s wounds, suggest there is more to this than meets the eye. Investigators said that the cleric was shot four times – once in both palms and in his left leg and right hip. While all his four wounds were non-lethal, the single bullet fired on his wife struck her left shoulder and exited through the abdomen – seemingly by accident.

Giving further credence to this theory, police said that shortly after the incident, a man who claimed to be the information secretary of a banned outfit arrived at the scene and declared that Qari Ahmed was one of their people and that “a great injustice had been done with him and his family”.

The man in question made several calls from the scene and tried to paint the issue in a sectarian light. Police also alleged that the man fabricated details about the incident and told people that three armed men on a motorcycle had attacked Qari Ahmed and his wife.

Police said that Qari Ahmed registered a case against six persons and nominated men who are well-known supporters of Qari Mohammad and members of the mosque and shrine administrative committee.

In the report, the victim alleged that the accused first had him removed from the mosque and were now trying to kill him. He also claimed that there had been an attempt on his life in the past as well, but there was no police record to back up these claims.

Eerie calm

When Dawn contacted Qari Ahmed on his personal cellphone, he answered and said he was recovering from his injuries. However, when asked about the attack and his differences with the mosque administration, he hung up.

Qari Jamil Ahmed, administrator of the Gulistan-i-Ahle Bayt seminary, alleged that the attack was orchestrated by the prayer leader of the Jamia Masjid, along with collaborators who wanted to take over the seminary.

Locals, by and large, seemed reluctant to talk about the issue. The houses of those who had been nominated in Qari Ahmed’s FIR were also found locked. Police and villagers said they had left the area after they were nominated in the case.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2016