‘Stop blasphemous gathering in name of Milad’

The petitioner, Muhammad Khan, submitted that Faisal and Goshi had on Saturday been handing out pamphlets advertising the Azeemush Shan Mehfil-i-Milad organised by the Anjuman Ashiqan-i-Rasool on May 26 in Sabzazar.

But the pamphlets were a ruse, he submitted, for they had also been handing out sealed envelopes which included another handbill proclaiming a man named Syedna Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi as the Imam Mehdi, the Messiah and the Kalki Avatar (the final incarnation of Vishnu, in Hindiusm) and that his likeness is visible on the moon, the sun and the stone kept at the Khana-i-Kaba. This handbill was sponsored by Anjuman Sarfaroshan-i-Islam.

Shahi had been thrice sentenced to life in prison over blasphemy charges by an anti-terrorism court in Mirpurkhas on March 11, 2000. He was reported to have fled to the UK and died in 2001 or 2003.

Petitioner’s counsel Advocate Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry argued that Faisal and Goshi had been trying to trick people into attending the so-called Milad, where followers of Gohar Shahi would attempt to proselytise their own religion. He said that the pamphlet for the Milad stated that a lucky draw would be held with the prizes on offer including 10 umra tickets, 20 digital Quran pens and 100 Islamic books. This was meant to lure more unsuspecting people to attend, he said.

He submitted that the Anjuman Ashiqan-i-Rasool said to be organising the Milad was not a real organisation. The pamphlet did not state its address or any contact numbers.

The petitioner has also submitted applications to the capital city police officer and the district coordination officer asking them to order the removal of banners, posters and flexes of Syedna Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi in Shah Jamal and other areas of the city. He also asked them to stop the Milad at Sabzazar.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 26^th, 2013.