Pakistan: Jamaat-ud-Dawa claims the deaf and mute also have a right to wage jihad against India, America and Israel

(The News on Sunday)

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JuD’s Deaf Wing camps are quite productive
By Waqar Gillani

Jamaat-ud-Dawa claims the deaf and mute also have a right to wage jihad against India, America and Israel. No wonder the organisation has instituted training camps for its members with sight and hearing impairment, most of them young. Presently, the number of these members runs into thousands. There are 1,500 in Lahore alone that regularly attend JuD resource persons’ lectures in which they are taught about society and religion.

“We invite them to Islam and teach them the Islamic way of living,” says a resource person at one such training camp, requesting anonymity.

Haji Ather Aziz, an old man based in Daska, lost his hearing due to a medical condition in early 1980s. Later, he went to Saudi Arabia where he enrolled for a three-year course (for the deaf and mute) in religious studies. Upon his return to Pakistan, he met with Hafiz Saeed, the ameer of JuD, in a conference in Gujranwala district where the latter had invited him to formally join his group and launch the Deaf Wing of JuD.

Haji Ather agreed readily and went on to develop a short study course covering the basic tenets of Islam. “We also teach them the Islamic way of living and how to respect parents and live as a peaceful member of the society,” he says.

Today, JuD has its Deaf Wing camps in Lahore, Karachi, Sukkur, Hyderabad, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Daska, Siakot, Multan, Bahawalpur, Vehari and other districts and towns of the country. They have employed 300 resource persons who are ready to teach and train the deaf and dumb 24/7.

“We are developing a full module which includes Islam’s basic teachings and tells people how to say prayers in their own language; this will also be printed in a booklet soon,” the resource person says.

“They [deaf and mute] are happy to join us and they want to be active members of JuD,” adds another person. “They take part in protest rallies against India and America. They were instrumental in our campaign against the blasphemous cartoons and, more recently, have been protesting the bounty placed on Hafiz Saeed.”

JuD also teaches these disabled youth the affairs of the world in general and Pakistan in particular. “They have a fair idea what is happening in Kashmir, Palestine and what is the role of India, America and Israel in these issues,” he says.

“They are an emotional lot and ever ready to pick Kalashnikovs and fight the enemies of Islam. When they came to know about the violence perpetrated on Kashmiri Muslims they said that the government had turned deaf and dumb. They want to fight the Indian army.”

The insider also talks of a rather inactive women’s wing in the training camp for the deaf and mute. Though, meetings and gatherings are arranged for them, they aren’t regular.

“The state’s role is missing when it comes to neglected communities which become victim of such groups and organisations,” says Muhammad Amir Rana, executive director of Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies (PIPS).

Rana says this is true not just of JuD but also a lot of other so-called charity and religious organisations that engage vulnerable elements in the society and make them a part of their agenda.