TIMERGARA, April 24: The number of people, including workers of defunct Tehrik Nifaz Shariat-i-Mohammadi, visiting the hujra of Maulana Sufi Mohammad has been increasing with every passing day since his release on April 21.

Sitting in his old seminary, close to his home, Maulana Sufi Mohammad receives activists of TNSM and workers of different political parties coming from different parts of far flung areas including Buner, Swat, Bajaur tribal region and Malakand.

JUI-F provincial chief Senator Maulana Gul Naseeb Khan and former MPA Dr Inayatul Haq also visited Sufi’s Madressah on Thursday. However, TNSM workers didn’t want Sufi Mohammad to meet Senator Naseeb, sources told Dawn.

According to eye-witnesses Gul Naseeb waited for a long time to see Sufi but the later did not come out of the hujra. Later, some other religious figures convinced him to meet Gul Naseeb. After persuaded by some religious clerics Sufi Mohammad came out only to shake hands with the JUI-F leader and went back into the hujra, eye-witnesses said.

The TNSM workers were angry with the JUI-F leader as they thought that the previous MMA government did nothing for the release of their leader, TNSM spokesman and son of Sufi Mohammad, Rizwanullah told Dawn.

Interestingly, after the release of TNSM founding leader, people again began to wear black turbans in the district. Residents of the district have welcomed Sufi’s release and expressed pleasure over the government’s decision to initiate the process of negotiations with local Taliban.

“People have forgotten the tragic incident of the Razia Sultana College at Mazar Sharif, Afghanistan, which had taken place in November 2001. Thousands of TNSM volunteers had lost their lives after the fall of Taliban in northern Afghanistan,” said a local, whose brother had been missing in Afghanistan since then.

Rizwan said that heirs of those people who were killed in Afghanistan were coming to meet Sufi Mohammad. “They present garlands to him and seek his advice. When the number of people went too high the other day, the Maulana advised them to assemble in the Lal Qilla school ground and addressed them. He directed them to be peaceful, tolerant and piteous,” Rizwan added. “Islam doesn’t allow violence against humans and killing of Muslim brethren was forbidden in Islam. The government officials, police and army are our Muslim brethren and any violence against them is against Islamic teachings,” Rizwan quoted Sufi as saying.

“You should respect the government, its officials and installations. We are peace loving people and don’t want to challenge the government’s writ in the region. We will wage our peaceful struggle for the enforcement of Sharia and will avoid any kind of violence,” Sufi told his followers.