Author: Ismail Khan
Publication: www.jang.com
Date: January 30, 2001
(Note: Letter attached at the end
of the message.)
PESHAWAR: The district administration
in Peshawar on Monday closed down an English daily and booked six of its
staffers besides its managing editor under the blasphemy law for publishing
a letter containing highly blasphemous material against Holy Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him).
"We have sealed the offices till
further orders. The paper has been closed down and five of its staffers
have been taken into custody", deputy commissioner, Peshawar, Badshah Gul
Wazir said.
A magistrate accompanied by a contingent
of police raided the offices of daily The Frontier Post and sealed its
offices and printing press. "The orders shall remain in force for indefinite
period", Magistrate Muhammad Javed said.
Officials said that the paper published
the letter titled "Why Muslims Hate Jews?' contained highly blasphemous
material. A Jew, BenDZac, apparently wrote the letter sent via email, an
official said.
Those taken into custody include
the paper's news editor Aftab Ahmad, chief reporter Imtiaz Hussain, a sub-editor
Munnawar Mohsin, feature writer Qazi Ghulam Sarwar and in charge of computer
section Wajihul Hassan. The paper's managing editor Mahmood Afridi, who
was not in town, was instructed to give himself in to the authorities,
SSP Peshawar, Dr Muhammad Suleiman said.
Police said they were also looking
for the Joint Editor, Syed Javed Nazir. "All seven have been charged under
the blasphemy law and proceeded against under Section 295-C", the SSP said.
Section 295-C carries capital punishment or life imprisonment for offence
involving blasphemy against the person of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The
paper's editor-in-chief and chief executive, Rehmat Shah Afridi, is already
under trial for his alleged involvement in drug trafficking.
The deputy commissioner had earlier
said that five of the staffers had been taken into "protective custody".
"But we will investigate the matter and proceed against those responsible
for publishing this highly blasphemous material. This is too much."
He said that the paper had created
a law and order situation. "We are taking measures to preempt any law and
order situation." Police were deployed in big number around the offices
of the daily in Peshawar Cantt and its workers were asked to stay away.
Angry activists of the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba
staged a protest rally demanding the paper be closed down and action taken
against those responsible. The students staged the protest demonstration
on the campus of University of Peshawar and blocked the main Jamrud road.
They raised slogans against the paper and the management and threatened
to take the law into their hands if no action was taken within 24 hours.
The students burnt several copies of the daily. They said that they would
not allow the paper to be distributed on the campus.
The Jamaat-e-Islami also came out
with strong condemnation. The PPP (Sherpao) leader Sikandar Hayat Sherpao
expressed his concern over the publication of blasphemous letter. He said
that it had immensely hurt the sentiments of the Muslims.
Managing Editor of The Frontier
Post, Peshawar, Mahmood Afridi said he regretted the publication of the
blasphemous letter but insisted it was not deliberate. "We are as good
Muslims as others. I regret all this but it was not deliberate", he said
on phone from Islamabad.
Afridi, who the authorities said
could be charged under the blasphemy law carrying capital punishment, said
he would want the authorities to investigate the matter before lodging
criminal cases against him and six others of his staffers. "I would like
the government to investigate the matter before lodging cases and take
action if found guilty. I would say that justice be done."
The district magistrate, Peshawar,
issued the following press note: "Today i.e 29th February 2001, a letter
under the title 'Why Muslims hate Jews" by BenDzac was printed on page
7 in section 'Your Views' in an English daily 'The Frontier Post' Peshawar.
The contents of the letter were highly sacreligious and derogatory to the
Islamic faith and the Quran. It appears that the letter has been authored
by a Jew. The highly objectionable and derogatory material published by
the newspaper has grossly hurt the feelings of the Muslim community and
has caused immense resentment amongst them.
Since the irresponsible conduct
of the newspaper attracts the provisions of the section 295/a,b,c, PPC
and other relevant sections of law, therefore, a case has been registered
against the management of The Frontier Post and the responsible functionaries
have been arrested. Besides, the premises of the newspaper including the
press have also been sealed."
==========================
Why Muslims hate Jews?
Updated on 1/29/2001 10:15:30 AM
In order to understand the continuous
hate history of the Muslims forJews through the present day violent hate
for the Jews, one has to understand the theological roots of Muslim anti-semitism
that is enshrined in the Koran.
Only then can one understand how
false are the claims that prior to Zionism, Jews and Muslims lived in harmony,
that neither Islam nor Muslims harbored any hate for the Jews.
The creation of the Jewish state
in no way created Muslim hatred for Jews.
It merely intensified it and gave
it new focus.
So long as Jews acknowledged their
inferior status among Muslims, they wre allowed to exist under humiliation.
But once the Jews succeeded in getting
rid of their inferior status, in becoming a sovereign state after centuries
of servitude, and even to govern some Muslims as is happening in Israel
where there are some 800, 000 Muslims under Jewish rule.
the existence of Jews and Israel
was no longer acceptable to the Muslims.
The passionate hatred for Israel
and Jews is a hatred that entirely transcends political antagonisms.
It was put in place by Muhammad
who claimed to be a prophet of God.
His hatred for Jews was caused by
their refulsal to accept him as a prophet because of his low moral character
and his lack of knowledge of the scripture and his murderous ways.
It is this non-acceptance by the
Jews that made him murder thousands of innocent Jews in Arabia and drive
the rest away.
Jews were a significant minority,
perhaps as high as 40%, in northern present day Saudi Arabia.
He also wanted their lands, wealth
and their women.
It is the hatred that he deified
that bring forth the repeated Muslim calls not for just a defeat of Israel
but for its annihilation.
As so often in Jewish history it
is the Jewish nation's existence that arouses the Muslim hatred and their
passion to end the Jewish state.
The Muslim claim that the issue
is anti-Zionism rather than anti- Semitism really means that so long as
the Jews adhere to their inferior dhimmi status and do not express the
national component of Judaism, their existence as individuals is acceptable.
But for Jews to aspire to equality
among Muslims, for a Jew to aspire to a status higher than " humiliation
and wretechedess stamped upon their foreheads" as the Koran puts it, is
to aspire too high.
Muhammad repeatedly came up with
suras to justify his evil acts against the Jews.
When he murdered the Jews of Banu
Qurayza (800 in one evening as narrated by Ibn Ishaq) he came up with a
sura justifying the act, the first holocaust against Jews.
What is worse he claimed the revelation
to be from the Almighty-- blasphemy of the highest order.
Indeed Muhammad was the first nazi.
That was his style.
Claiming to get revelations in order
to satisfy his political or personal agenda or his libido.
When he wanted to take on more than
the four wives he had allowed Muslims he came up with a sura allowing him
to take as many wives as he pleased.
Total dishonesty.
Unabashed male chauvinism.
I would not care how many women
he bedded and how many times he lied about getting revelations.
What I object to is that Muhammad
stamped hatred for Jews permanently into Muslim minds.
Muslim children from day one have
the Koran recited into their ears, hate for Jews drilled into their minds.
Anwar Sadat signed a peace treaty
with Israel.
Here is what he told his troops
in 1972: " The most splendid thing our Prophet Muhammad , God's peace and
blessings be upon him, did was to evict the Jews from the entire Arabian
peninsula.
I pledge to you that we will celebrate
on our next anniversary, God willing and in this place with God's help,
not only the liberation of our lands ( meaning Palestine including Israel)
but also the defeat of Israeli conceit and arrogance so that they must
return once again to the condition decreed in our Holy Book, humiliation
and wretchedness stamped upon them.
We will not renounce this." The
last was inspired by sura 2:61 in the Koran.
"And humiliation and wretchedness
were stamped upon them (meaning the Jews) and they were visited with the
wrath of Allah.
That was because they disbelieved
in Allah's revelations and slew the prophets wrongfully .That was for their
disobedience and transgression." To this day this hate filled verse describing
Jews, written in the seventh century Arabia, has been cited again and again
by Muslims to justify their atrocities against the Jews.
