My conversation with Mufti Muhammad Saeed Khan (db) last night: I was approached by a few friends (most of whom support PTI) to talk to Mufti saheb and get his take on what his respected views on the ongoing imbroglio in Islamabad are. I am reproducing my discussion with him (in summary) over the phone with his kind permission. 1- On his Imamat of the Jumuah prayers at the PTI dharna Mufti saheb was personally approached by Imran Khan Thursday night, at around 1 am, to lead the prayers at the dharna. This was done after the PTI core committee deliberated over this matter and decided on Mufti saheb. It must be clarified at this stage that up till this point, Mufti saheb has NOT been a part of the ongoing protest - and as you will see later he is opposed to any such agitation. The reason why Mufti saheb agreed to take part and lead the prayers was because of 2 reasons: (a) To offset the Tahirul Qadri factor, where PTI wanted to hold their protesters in their own location and not join the Jumuah prayers being led by TUQ saheb; (b) And this is the BIGGER reason, to negate the very real possibility of a charged Khutbah that could have led to violence as the content and mode of delivery of the Khutbah could have led to anger on both sides. So, Mufti saheb went there only to give the Khutbah and lead the prayers. The content of his Khutbah centered around shunning violence and appealing people (and law enforcement agencies) to remain calm and not use force. Interestingly, Mufti saheb told me that his Khutbah was recorded by PTI and the ISI. Mufti saheb further told me that after the prayers he got a call from Ahsan Iqbal (PML-N) who asked him why he had joined PTIs dharna when he basically is apolitical in nature? After giving his explanations - and Ahsan saheb was asked to cross-check the contents of his Khutbah with the ISI - Ahsan Iqbal understood why he had done so and that, indeed, had the Khutbah been given by some of the other persons who had been shortlisted, things could have gotten out of hand. 2- On his stand on protests and where he stands on the current situation Mufti saheb CATEGORICALLY REJECTED agitation of this sort. He was, in fact, so opposed to it that he dismissed all this as political gimmicks (siyasi dramaybaazi) and that in 5-6 months all these actors will be sipping tea and getting along with one another! He furthermore had SEVERE reservations on the singing and dancing in these protests (I will elaborate more on this point later). Mufti saheb told me that he has been advising Imran to stay out of such confrontational-style politics, but he regretfully informed me that he is surrounded by some veteran politicians who are blinded (and are blinding him) with their lust for power. I was actually shocked to hear this because he said, in no uncertain terms, that Imran Khan himself has been severely disappointed by losing an opportunity at being the Prime Minister and that the intoxication of power (iqtidaar ka nasha) takes a longer while to reside. I was relieved to hear that his stance on this matter is DITTO what I have been harping: There is NO NEED to take sides here and the countrys current situation does not allow this sort of emotional confrontation. He also reported that when he was at the dharna location for Jumuah prayers there were NO MORE THAN 10,000 people (ouch!). 3- Mufti saheb on counseling Imran Khan He told me that since 2005, he has been urging Imran Khan to give up politics and concentrate SOLELY on uplift of education, but Imran insists that he would rather have it this way. Mufti sahebs position is that Imran can leave an indelible mark on the youth silently by educating them and letting the next generation usher in change. Imran, on the other hand, insists that it must be done by him reaching the highest echelons of power where he can effect more change. 4- Mufti saheb counseling Imran Khan on the current situation He told me that he spoke to Imran, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Javed Hashmi, Arif Alvi and a few others NUMEROUS TIMES and tried to explain 2 main things to them: (a) purging singing and dancing from their gatherings; (b) not moving forward with such a dharna that will leave behind a terrible precedent for future oppositions. On point (a) he told me that Imran has been apologetic about it saying that its hard not to keep people gathered and interested without such fanfare. Imran also further admitted that kids need to be educated on this aspect, but till then it is a majboori. On point (b) Mufti saheb told me how he told Imran about Delhi under the last few years of the Mughal era where Sikhs, Jatts, Marathas etc. made it a habit to converge with such massive crowds in Delhi and force the Mughal rulers to leave, but each time the Emperor cooled them down by filling up their coffers and giving them a little of the power pie. So much so that at one point, it became an extortion tactic and all kinds of groups would lead such dharnas in Delhi to extort money (in the name of change) from the Mughal rulers! Needless to say, his advice was trashed. 5- Mufti saheb on Dr. Tahirul Qadri He tells me that TUQs demands are very different to Imran and that TUQ wont stop at just resignations and that TUQ wants a complete change in the system. He tells me that he is a little apprehensive of TUQ because he refuses to share what that new system will be all about - its nuts and bolts etc. At this point, I told Mufti saheb of the little that I know of what TUQ is planning and that Minhajul Quran may be looking to publish this new system (I gave him some briefs on the electoral process; the constitution of the majlis-e-shura as per this new system; and some changes in the roles of the military and civilian leadership). Mufti saheb heard it with interest, but told me that it is insincere of TUQ to hold back these details because as his counterparts who can read his work and critique it, they should be the first ones to hear of it. He vehemently disagrees with this modus operandi of TUQ that he will give the details only when the time comes. As Mufti saheb put it, yeh kya baat huwi kay pehlay suroor hai aur uskay baad sharaab? Furthermore, he said that the fact that TUQ is delaying giving the mutabadil nizaam makes him doubt that if there even is one in his mind (let alone books). As he put it, Hamain toh shubha hai kay is thayli main billi hee nahin hai! There was more that was discussed, but that can be left out for now. I hope this helps everyone to put in perspective how a man of God, who is very close to Imran Khan, is seeing all this. At the end of it all, he sounded resigned to a darker future and that he would want Imran to correct his image IMMEDIATELY as he is leaving behind a really negative role model for the next generation of kids. He says that the youth of the 90s who were poisoned are now ruling the roost and that if Imran leaves behind a bad legacy then the teenagers of today will make things even worse than they are now in a decade from now.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 21:00:05 +0000
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