LAHORE – The Defense Housing Authority (DHA) has long been considered a bastion of liberalism, but it is now being claimed that its management is under the sway of a particular ideology. Sectarian trouble is brewing in DHA as the hard-line Sunni Tehreek (ST) is actively pursuing the interests of the “disgruntled” Barelvi community against alleged disparities in the recruitment of mosque khateebs, khadims and moazzins in the area. Pointing a finger at the Religious Affairs Department of the DHA, ST has some damning statistics to support its case. “Since the stablishment of DHA, one specific sect has been given a free hand to propagate its own interests.
We are at least 80 percent of the population, but our representation in terms of the leadership of the congregations of DHA mosques is less than 20 percent of the total, we are marginalised,” said a resident of DHA, Siddique Qadri, who is also the member of the coordination committee of ST in Punjab.
According to data obtained by Pakistan Today, there are four phase khateebs and four naib khateebs in DHA and all of them belong to the Deobandi school of thought. Sector mosque khateebs are 24 in number, of which at least 16 are Deobandi. There are at least 33 khadims, moazzins and khakrobs, only nine of which belong to other sects. The Ahle-e-Hadith have very limited representation as well, while Shias have no official place of worship.
Five years ago, after the assassination of their top leadership in Nishtar Park, Karachi, a delegation led by erstwhile ST acting head Shahid Ghauri and Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman met former president Pervez Musharraf and demanded the inclusion of clerics from the Tanzeem-ul-Madaris, a Barelvi organisation, in DHA. Musharraf ordered the Lahore Corps commander to ensure that their demands were met, and so three Barelvi clerics – including the son-in-law of the late Dr Sarfaraz Naeemi – were able to get jobs as sector khateebs.
Siddique Qadri said he had written letters, with the help of local residents, to the president, prime minister, army chief, chief justice, Lahore Corps commander, defence minister and DHA administrator about the ST’s concerns but to no avail. On the contrary, five months ago, he was attacked and severely injured by unidentified assailants. Though Qadri did not implicate anyone directly in the first information report of the incident, he discreetly attempted to steer the investigation towards the management of the DHA’s religious wing.
However, self-proclaimed champions of the interests of the Barelvi sect, the ST leadership is famous for taking credit for “liberating” at least 62 mosques in Karachi from their wrongful “occupiers”. DHA Public Relations Officer Tajjamal Hussain Anjum told Pakistan Today that all 28 mosques in DHA were for all Muslims. “Our HR [human resources] Department strictly follows certain criteria for the selection of khateebs and other employees for the mosques.
Only well-educated candidates and those not tainted by sectarian prejudice can get the slots,” he said. He also claimed that the DHA Religious Affairs Department ensured that a schedule of topics was strictly adhered to and that the process was highly centralised to maintain harmony between all segments of the population. A meeting was held twice a week in which all khateebs and moazzins met and discussed possible topics which were closely scrutinised by the body, he added, and said a contentious topic could not be part of the sermon of any preacher.
He also said that the DHA avoided naming mosques to prevent any sectarian affiliation. The PRO said regular rotation of the corp commander – changed every three years – prevented any possible maneuvering for the dominance of one sect. He challenged the claims of the ST on the grounds that if their allegations of conspiracy were true, it would have been readily evident. Furthermore appointments were also pored over by the HR department, he said, and four officials were charged with ensuring a vigorous selection process. He said, however, that the DHA had no rules that allowed preachers not sanctioned by the body to preach to congregations.
