One Tanveer Ahmed is too many.
Proud to Kill
Mr Ahmed is the man who murdered Glasgow shopkeeper and Ahmadi Muslim Asad Shah in March of this year.
His motive? Religious hatred, proudly displayed. Ahmed simply waited for the police to arrest him after killing Shah, keen to tell them why he did it.
Then he pleaded guilty, doubtless certain of reward from his Allah, with the words “no one has the right to disrespect the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad”.
Even when he was sent down in August, Ahmed remained defiant.
As he was led from the dock on Tuesday, Ahmed raised a clenched fist and shouted in Arabic: “Praise for the Prophet Muhammad, there is only one Prophet.”
Yet Ahmed is not alone. His words were echoed in the court by supporters as he was led away. And there are many more in the world.
Hanif Qureshi – A Preacher for Murder
It seems that one of them is prominent Pakistani preacher Hanif Qureshi.
This is no surprise when one considers Qureshi’s background. He is not simply a passionate supporter of Mumtaz Qadri, another religious fanatic who murdered Pakistani politician Salman Taseer in 2011. One of Qureshi’s tirades actually inspired Qadri to commit his foul crime. It got the crowd going too:
“We know how to trigger a gun, how to shoot somebody dead and how to behead those who commit blasphemy against our beloved Prophet [Muhammad].”
The crowd shouts: “We are the protectors of the dignity of the holy Prophet. We will sacrifice our lives for the dignity of the holy Prophet.”
Allama Muhammad Qureshi says: “Let them know those who consider Sunnis are coward that Allah has honored us with the courage and power to strangulate those involved in blasphemy, to cut their tongues, and to riddle their bodies with bullets. For this, nobody can arrest us under any law.”
Allama Muhammad Qureshi leads the audience: “The death of the blasphemer?” and the audience replies: “Death, death, death”.
This is the video. It is a terrifying scene of wild fury.
Mr Qureshi visits the UK frequently. He has spoken six times since 2014 at the Jamia Islamia Ghousia mosque in Luton alone. He was last there in May. Other recent destinations include Birmingham, Blackburn, Derby, Dewsbury, Glasgow, Ilford, Leicester, London, Manchester, Oldham, Oxford, Slough, Stoke, Walsall, and Warrington.
Hanif Qureshi preaching at the Jamia mosque in Luton. The man sitting to his right is Abdul Aziz Chishti, the mosque’s senior imam.
Tanveer is Mumtaz
Turning back to Tanveer Ahmed, here is an image from one of Qureshi’s Facebook accounts featuring Mumtaz Qadri and Ahmed side by side. Both are acclaimed as heroes and Allah is beseeched to show mercy to them.
Here is another post. What an honour – Tanveer becomes Mumtaz.
There is even a “tribute” video.
It is one of the most awful and frightening videos I have seen in this field. It is nothing less than a joyous celebration of religious murder. If you want to see for yourself how bad it can get in these circles, a copy is available on Youtube.
There is more where all this came from.
Now one cannot be entirely certain that Hanif Qureshi himself wrote these posts. Perhaps they were published by enthusiastic supporters.
Yet it is a distinction which is ultimately of little importance. Religious hatred is his mission. If every one of the posts in his name on this topic was written by others, he is evidently rather good at it.
Stop This
Like Tanveer Ahmed, one Hanif Qureshi is too many on these shores. Why has this man been let into our country, again and again?
Labour MP Siobahn McDonagh has spoken up. Here she is in Parliament in late June:
Members may well be aware that Khatm-e-Nubuwwat is well known for its anti-Ahmadi views and regularly invites preachers from Pakistan to visit the UK on speaking tours to spread the message of hate. Qureshi is just one example. His words have incited violence in Pakistan and they will incite violence in this country, too. He should be banned from ever travelling to Britain. Given the context of anti-Ahmadi sentiment in the UK and growing religious violence throughout Europe, his message of hate has no place here. How on earth could he have been granted entry clearance?
Indeed, Qureshi attended a Khatm conference at the Jamia mosque in Luton just last year. Four other speakers at that conference are fellow supporters of Mumtaz Qadri, as is the mosque itself.
The normal Home Office line is that it cannot comment on individual exclusion cases. In his capacity as Minister of State for Security and Immigration, James Brokenshire did just that in his answers to Siobahn McDonagh:
As I have already stated, I am unable to comment on those who are or are not subject to exclusion orders or on individual cases, for sound legal reasons.
Exceptions can be made and have been in the past to send very clear messages, for all to see.
People are fed up with hate preachers. Very fed up. The preachers’ targets are scared. With chilling reason. If any case cries out for another exception that is “conducive to the public good”, as the bureaucratic border language goes, surely it is Hanif Qureshi.
Alec adds: Despite wishing for rewards in the hereafter, Ahmed is less keen on the 27 year minimum sentence his expansive flesh is to endure. He is appealing. Cue chorus “actually he looks more like a degenerate savage”.
Following Ahmed’s conviction, Police Scotland issued a statement:
“There is a consensus across all of our communities that there is no place in Scotland for religious or cultural intolerance which generates crimes of hatred, intimidation or violence. Religious or cultural beliefs, no matter how strongly held, do not entitle anyone to commit murder or acts of aggression.
“There are a number of ways in which members of the public can report hate crimes to the police and I would encourage them to do so.
“The response by Scotland’s communities to the murder was one of unity; I am confident that the same response will be displayed in light of today’s guilty plea.”
Following the murder, other Muslim groups remembered a prior engagement when asked to attend an Ahmadi-led multi-faith event [1]. Shah’s family now have been reported to have fled the welcoming and unifying Scottish scene fearing for their own safety.
Wherever did they get that idea?
[1] Oh, look, Sandra White.
