Pir Mohammad Ilyas Attar Qadri and the Struggle against Deobandism With all opposition to Islamism and jihadism in Pakistan falling silent since, Sufi Islamism has succeeded in doing what Deobandi jihadism had failed in the past. There were widespread demonstrations in Qadri's favor throughout the country. When the police brought the assassin to court a day later, hundreds of lawyers showered him with rose petals. He later told the police that he had killed the governor because Taseer had insulted the Prophet of Islam by describing Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws as "black laws." Within hours of the assassination, Barelvi ulema (religious scholars) and more than 500 leading members of the Jamaat Ahle Sunnat ("The Community of People of the Traditions of Muhammad," a Barelvi Sufi religious organization) had issued a fatwa against leading the deceased governor's funeral prayers or even attending his funeral (The News January 5). The other bodyguards from the elite force did not try to stop him and the smiling Qadri surrendered to his fellow officers after he made sure the governor was dead. Qadri was also believed to be associated with the South Asian Barelvi Sufi movement. The assassin in the January 4 killing, Malik Mumtaz Qadri, belonged to the Elite Punjab Police, a force specially trained in counterterrorism work and the protection of important individuals (Dawn, January 5).
Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.Īs Punjab governor Salman Taseer came out of a restaurant in an upscale area of Islamabad, one of his bodyguards uttered the slogan "Allahu Akbar" and fired on the man he was supposed to guard, killing him on the spot. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Jamestown Foundation, Sufi Militants Struggle with Deobandi Jihadists in Pakistan, 24 February 2011, Terrorism Monitor Volume: 9 Issue: 8, available at: