Khadim Hussain Rizvi
presents his demands before TLYRA supporters| Photos by Tanveer Shehzad /White
Star
Before November, only a
few people had paid attention to the wheelchair-bound cleric with a flowing
white beard. His newly registered political party, Tehreek-i-Labbaik Ya Rasool
Allah (TLYRA), had certainly drawn the interest of political analysts and
journalists after its unexpectedly strong showing in recent by-elections, but
by and large, Maulana Khadim Hussain Rizvi remained a marginal figure in the public
consciousness.
However, by the time his
dharna — which had paralysed Islamabad over almost three weeks — had brought
about an unconditional capitulation of the state to his demands, almost
everyone in Pakistan had become familiar at least with his visage and his
firebrand style of oratory.
But few still know
exactly who Khadim Hussain Rizvi is, where he came from and what he represents.
The narrative of these
times is that Rizvi has emerged out of nowhere, that he is the poster boy of
the mainstreaming of jihadis that is marking national politics these days.
These assumptions are simplistic and short-sighted.
Leading the mob that held the capital hostage
was a relatively unknown cleric. This is the story of the man who has become
the new face of Barelvi politics
Rewind to January 4,
2011, when a police officer named Mumtaz Qadri opened fire at the man he was
supposed to protect, Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer. Although large swathes of
the citizenry condemned the murder, men such as Rizvi justified the act on the pretext
that Taseer had termed the blasphemy law as a “black law.”
At the time, Rizvi was
serving as an auqaf official in the Punjab government. He was served warning
notices to cease and desist from spreading his venom, and when he didn’t, he
was removed from public service. Those close to him claim that Rizvi not only
accepted his termination orders but also refused attempts by the Punjab
government to pay his outstanding dues as well as a job offer for his elder
son.
Relieved from his
duties, Rizvi found greater time and liberty to preach his views. He became
deeply involved in organising public support for Section 295-C of the Pakistan
Penal Code, which deals with blasphemy committed against Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH), and travelled the length and breadth of the country for the cause.
Simultaneously he continued to raise his voice for the release of Mumtaz Qadri.
In January, 2016, Rizvi
organised a rally in Lahore at the mausoleum of Allama Mohammad Iqbal, without
obtaining official permission. As a result, the Lahore police dispersed the
crowd with the use of water-cannons and baton charges. Later in the year, in
March, after the government hanged the convicted Mumtaz Qadri, Rizvi along with
some other Barelvi groups (including Sunni Tehreek Pakistan) led a march to
D-Chowk opposite the parliament in Islamabad. Although this too was marked by
violence, the four-day-long sit-in came to an end after Owais Noorani, son of
the founder of Jamiat Ulema Pakistan (JUP), late Shah Ahmed Noorani, brokered a
truce. The government allowed the protestors safe passage while accepting some
of their demands, but before that, it had also made life difficult for
protestors by stopping any supply of food and water.
In his last speech
before dispersing from D-Chowk, Rizvi announced he would counter the ruling
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) at every forum. It was only later on that
he established his party, TLYRA, and applied for registration from the Election
Commission of Pakistan.
His persistent
championing of the matter earned him the nickname of “blasphemy activist” in
religious circles. And it is the same issue that propelled him to prominence
over the past two months.
Developments after the launching of the Faizabad
operation also show that there is more to the sit-in than just pressuring the
government or to gain political mileage for TLYRA. The scope of this ‘dharna’
seems to be much broader and hints at the revival of Barelvi politics which had
seemed to have fizzled out for more than a decade.
RIZVI’S ROOTS
TLYRA support comes
face-to-face with law enforcement at the Faizabad Interchange
Born in 1966 in the
Pindi Gheb area of Attock District, Punjab, Rizvi is a said to be an introvert
who shies away from talking about his personal life even among his close
circles, let alone with media personnel. A Hafiz-e-Quran and Sheikh-ul-Hadith,
Rizvi used to deliver Friday sermons at Lahore’s Pir Makki Masjid, located near
Daata Darbar, during his time in the Punjab Auqaf Department.
Rizvi has been confined
to a wheelchair since 2006 ever since an accident near Gujranwala. Contrary to
the many myths floating around, Rizvi was injured because the driver of his
vehicle fell asleep while driving from Rawalpindi to Lahore.
Many mistake him as a
Shia because of his last name, but in truth, he is a staunch follower of Imam
Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi, the 19th century founder of the Barelvi sect.
In fact, one of the
slogans making the rounds among Rizvi’s supporters is: “Hum sab kuch bardasht
kar saktay haen magar apnay aaqa SAW ki shaan main adni si baat bhi bardasht
nahin kar saktay [We can tolerate anything but we won’t tolerate anything said
against the Prophet, PBUH].” This feeds into a hard-line stance on the minority
Ahmadis that is adopted by Rizvi and his supporters.
Rizvi’s first entry into
mainstream politics was in the by-elections of NA120, which fell vacant after
the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif. Since his party wasn’t registered at the
time, he pushed his weight behind an independent candidate named Sheikh Azhar
Hussain Rizvi. The TLYRA-backed Shiekh Rizvi bagged 7,130 votes in the
elections held on September 17, 2017.
“People did not vote for
me but the cause that we are here for,” Rizvi tells Eos. “Our votes were higher
than the 519 votes of the Jamaat-i-Islami [JI] and the 1,414 votes bagged by
the Pakistan Peoples Party [PPP].”
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