PESHAWAR – Authorities in the North Western Frontier Province (NWFP) have launched a major crackdown on Afghans serving as prayer leaders on charges of provoking people against Pakistani and US governments in their sermons.
"There are certain reports regarding their involvement in different subversive activities, including provocation," NWFP police chief Malik Naveed Khan told IslamOnline.net.
"That is why this action is being taken against them."
The local authorities decided to deport some 400 Afghans serving as prayer leaders in the NWFP province and the adjoining tribal areas.
Police confirmed having arrested 43 of them from Peshawar, Swat, Mardan, Boner and Noshehra districts.
They will soon be deported to Afghanistan on charges of violating immigration laws.
"They cannot work in Pakistan until and unless they have work visa," Naveed said.
"We are registering them so that we know about their status. Anyone found violating laws in this regard, will be deported," he added.
"We encourage the locals to hire a prayer leader amongst them. Why are they hiring a foreign national when a local one is available? He could be a security risk."
Maulvi Noor Mohammad, who has been serving as a prayer leader in a mosque in Mardan, located some 40 kilometers from Peshawar, is facing an imminent deportation.
Authorities told him his case is being evaluated by immigration officials for violating immigration rules.
"They have stopped me from serving as Pesh Imam (prayer leader) because I have refugee status," he told IOL.
"They have told me that I have violated the immigration rules and should get ready for deportation.
"I had been serving as Pesh Imam for the last 15 years, but authorities never cared about immigration laws."
Pakistan has been hosting over 2 million Afghan refugees since 1979 following the defunct USSR invasion of Afghanistan.
* Trouble makers
The authorities are accusation the Afghan prayer leaders of causing troubles and supporting Taliban.
"These prayer leaders have been helping Taliban in many ways," a member of the NWFP cabinet told IOL on condition of anonymity.
"The provincial government, in consultation with the federal Interior Ministry and in the light of intelligence reports, has decided to deport them to their homeland."
The crackdown is seen as part of several security measures proposed by both civil and military authorities to prevent Taliban from re-establishing themselves in the NWFP province.
A Similar operation has also been launched in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), which falls under the jurisdiction of the federal government.
Foreign nationals serving as prayer leaders in the area have been asked to get themselves registered with the authorities.
All the provincial police stations, especially in districts bordering Afghanistan, have been ordered to compile complete record of all foreign prayer leaders.
"Taliban is using these mosques through Afghan prayer leaders to spread their propaganda," charged the cabinet minister.
"They deliver provocative sermons against Pakistani and US governments and invite the residents to wage jihad against them," he added.
"They help the Taliban by welcoming them and giving them time to deliver pro-jihad and anti-government sermons in various Mosques.
"Many locals have joined Taliban ranks just because of their sermons."
The Cabinet minister also blamed the Afghan prayer leaders for attacks on US and NATO convoys passing through Pakistan.
"They have been indirectly involved in attacks on NATO supplies as they provoke the locals against those who are associated with these supplies in one way or the other."
Attacks on NATO convoys at Peshawar-Torkhum route have become so common that hundreds of truck drivers are refusing to carry goods for US-led foreign troops in Afghanistan.
But Maulvi Noor, the Afghan prayer leader facing deportation, rejects the catalogue of government’s accusations.
"This is totally false. We have no links with Taliban or any other militant organization," Noor, who belongs to the Afghan province of Khost, told IOL.
He admits that he used to condemn the US drone attacks and the killing of innocent people in tribal areas and Afghanistan.
"It’s not me only who is doing this. In almost all the mosques prayer leaders condemn these acts in Friday sermons," he insisted, wondering why only Afghans are being penalized.
"We have never provoked people to wage Jihad against US and Pakistani troops. We simply point out wrongdoings, even committed by Taliban, and that is our responsibility."
Jalal Khan, an Afghan elder based in Jalozai refugee camp in Peshawar, deplores the government’s action.
"This is ridiculous. Do they think that attacks on NATO convoys will come to an end by deporting these prayer leaders?" he told IOL.
"I don’t think so as. The problem is not with the Afghan Ulema but with the atrocities committed by the US forces in Afghanistan
Source: IslamOnline
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