What does the cleric Tahirul ul-Qadri stand for? There is much mystery about who Tahir ul-Qadri is, who supports him, and where he gets his money from. To many, this uncertainty is quite unnerving - not to mention very controversial. What we do know is that he is a Canada-based preacher. According to Qadri himself, he spends much of his time writing, praying, and speaking with common people -including at various shopping malls in the Toronto area, which he apparently enjoys frequenting. Though he has been based in Canada for nearly a decade, he retains strong links to Pakistan. He runs a series of mosques and religious institutions across the country, and he also heads a small Pakistani political party. He has also, in recent years, led a series of anti-government protests in Pakistan. What is so striking about Qadri - in addition to the ambiguity surrounding his background and backers - is that he is a man of immense contradictions. On the one hand, he preaches moderation and nonviolence. He famously issued a long fatwa against terrorism, and has also bragged that he is the only religious leader in the Muslim world who has condemned terrorism and armed struggle as unacceptable to Islam. Yet on the other hand, he has often called for revolution in Pakistan - a word that in the Pakistani context has violent connotations. His supporters - a small but vocal group - have also been involved in violent protests in recent years. His vague demand is that Pakistan be replaced by an alternate system of true democracy. He hasnt specified what this means, other than to emphasize that the current Pakistani government must go. It is his apparent disgust for the current government that has led him to repeatedly praise the Pakistani military. In terms of his political goals, there is a glass-half full and glass-half empty interpretation. The optimistic assessment would suggest that he is a democracy-minded cleric with the views of the Pakistani masses at heart- a leader who wants to tap into the deep grievances that Pakistanis harbor toward a civilian government whose ineffective rule and soft approach toward militancy often make democracy seem like a sham. The more cynical interpretation is that Qadri is simply a rabble-rouser who wants to cause trouble for a democratically elected government - with a very large mandate - and distract the country from tending to urgent matters - from a military offensive in North Waziristan to a crippling energy crisis and sinking economy.
Posted on: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 10:42:54 +0000
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