CHAKWAL: Reconciliatory efforts between Sunnis Muslims and Ahmadis in Dulmial village are unlikely to succeed after 37 men arrested for attacking an Ahmadi place of worship last year were granted bail on May 6.

On Dec 12 2016, some participants of a 12 Rabiul Awal procession attacked an Ahmadi place of worship, during which a Muslim youth was killed and three others sustained bullet injuries. An elderly member of the Ahmadi community was stranded in the place of worship and died of a heart attack.

The police had booked some 2,800 or 3,000 people at the time, but was only able to arrest 67 Muslims and four Ahmadis, who were declared guilty by a joint investigation team.

Both groups signed a truce in February, where elders of the Muslim community, who were involved in the incident, claimed that certain ‘outsiders’ had incited them to take control of the Darul Zikr by force.

Both sides had agreed on a reconciliation, which locals say is now unlikely to hold

In the agreement, it was unanimously decided that both groups would reconcile and the issue of the Darul Zikr would be left to the courts.

The Ahmadis of the village agreed to pay blood money to the heirs of Naeem Shafique, who belonged to the neighbouring village of Tatral Kahoon and was allegedly shot by an Ahmadi as he stormed into the Darul Zikr.

But on May 6, the Lahore High Court Rawalpindi Bench granted bail to the 37 Muslims accused in the matter. The vice-chairman of the Dulmial union council Fiyaz Ahmed Fiazi was among the main accused and was also granted bail.

The Ahmadis of the village have also applied for bail to be granted for the four accused on their side before the LHC, but a date for the hearing has not yet been fixed.

“Instead of giving up the legal battle, both sides want a tougher legal war,” a notable of the area said.

“Naeem Shafique’s brother, Saad Raza has refused to accept blood money and has vowed he will fight the case in court,” a local who is part of the reconciliation efforts told Dawn.

“For Saad, his brother died for a greater cause and has been declared a martyr by ulema,” he said, adding that Saad had been brainwashed by some radical clerics.

“It is easy for him to fight the case as he is receiving funds from several extremists. He also does not have a problem with the situation in this village as he belongs to another village,” another notable said.

Mr Raza registered an FIR against Ahmadis for killing his brother even though an FIR had been registered by the state on Dec 12.

Meanwhile, a JIT report obtained by Dawn says the primary organisers of the Dec 12 incident include Malik Rasheed Ahmed who is a Canadian national, VC Dulmial UC Fiyaz Ahmed Faizi who belongs to the PML-N, former tehsil Nazim of Choa Saidan Shah Hafeezur Rehman and others and that these persons started preparing villagers for taking control of the Ahmadi place of worship since the beginning of Rabi Ul Awal. It says Malik Rasheed sent for two clerics, Mohammad Munir Shaban and Irfan Mehmood, from Lahore who delivered speeches during Friday sermons against the Ahmadis and told villagers to socially boycott them.

The report says the route of the procession was diverted towards the Ahmadi place of worship through proper planning.

As it could not arrest the two clerics from Lahore, the JIT directed district police officer Chakwal to arrest them which has not been done as yet. The main organiser of the incident, Malik Rasheed has since fled to Canada and no action has been taken for his repatriation yet.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2017