Azam Tariq (Urdu: اعظم طارق 10 July 1962 – 6 October 2003) was a Pakistani politician and Islamic scholar who was the leader of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP). He was assassinated in 2003.
Azam Tariq | |
|---|---|
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| Chief, Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan | |
| In office 1997–2003 | |
| Preceded by | Zia ur Rehman Farooqi |
| Succeeded by | Ali Sher Hyderi |
| Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan | |
| In office 18 November 2002 – 6 October 2003 | |
| Constituency | NA-115 (Jhang-II) |
| In office 16 October 1993 – 5 November 1996 | |
| Constituency | NA-68 (Jhang-III) |
| In office 1991 – 18 July 1993 | |
| Constituency | NA-68 (Jhang-III) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 10 July 1962 Chichawatni, West Pakistan, Pakistan |
| Died | 6 October 2003 (aged 41) Islamabad, Pakistan |
| Manner of death | Assassination by gunshots |
| Political party |  Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan |
| Children | Moavia Azam Tariq |
| Alma mater | Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia |
| Occupation | Politician, cleric |
Early life and education
editAzam Tariq was born on 10 July 1962 into a Punjabi Rajput farmer family to Mohammad Fateh in Chichawatni, their family roots lying in the Kalyan village of the Patiala district, now in Indian Punjab, from where they moved due to the 1947 partition.[1]
He studied at a local madrassa and then enrolled in the Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia in Banuri Town, Karachi.[2]
Like most madrassa students and graduates at that time, he participated in the Soviet-Afghan jihad, and when he returned, while he was the imam of the Masjid-e-Siddiq-e-Akbar in North Karachi he formed the basis of the future SSP.[3]
Arrest
editIn August 2001, Tariq was arrested and jailed on charges of terrorism.[citation needed]
Career
editTariq was elected three times to the National Assembly of Pakistan in Jhang Sadr, even though his constituency was a predominantly Shi'a region. He contested again in the 2002 elections while in custody and was again elected. He was released in November 2002.[4]
Death
editTariq was shot and killed in an attack on 6 October 2003 alongside Islamabad[5] as he left the M-2 Motorway to enter the city.[6] his funeral was led by Abdul Rashid Ghazi inside Lal Masjid.[7]
The assassination was part of a growing wave of violent incidents in Pakistan between the sectarian Deobandi Wahhabi and the Shiah Muslims. Violence peaked in July 2003 with the Quetta mosque attack and the massacre of more than 50 people.[8]
On 11 May 2017, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested a proclaimed offender after 13 years who murdered him.[9]
Bibliography
editBooks by Tariq
edit- Rūdād-i ʻIshq O Vafā, Jhang : Markazī Daftar-i Sipāh-i Ṣaḥābah, 1999-2004, around 1000 pages (in 2 volumes). Author's memoirs.
- Ahammīyat-i Hadīs̲ Dar Dīn, Kābul : Mayvand ; Peshawar : Kitābkhānah-ʼi Sabā, 2005, 298 p. Importance of Hadith for Islam, in Persian.
- K̲h̲ut̤bāt-i Jarnail, al-Maʻrūf, K̲h̲ut̤bāt-i Jel, Jhang : Markazī Daftar-i Sipāh-i Ṣaḥābah, 2001. Collection of speeches written in jail (1998-1999) collected by Abū Usāmah Z̤iyāurraḥmān Nāṣir.
Books about Tariq
edit- Muḥammad Nadīm Qāsimī, Ḥayāt-i Aʻẓam T̤āriq, Faiṣalābād : Ishāʻatulmaʻārif, 1998, 413 p.
- Muḥammad Nadīm Muʻāviyah, Pārlīmanṭ Kā Londa : S̲ānī-i Jarnail-i Sipāh-yi Ṣaḥābah ... Ḥaz̤rat Maulānā Muḥammad Aʻẓam T̤āriq Shahīd Ke Mufaṣṣal Hālāt-i Zindagī Aur Pārlīmant Kī Taqārīr, Karāchī : Maktabah-yi K̲h̲ilāfat-i Rāshidah, 2005, 376 p.
See more
editReferences
edit- ^ Alam, Iftikhar (22 May 2022). "A developing scenario for banned SSP politics in Jhang". Minute Mirror. Archived from the original on 13 February 2024.
Belonging to Rajput clan, late Tariq's family migrated in 1947 from Kalyan village, then part of the Patiala State and now falls in Punjab India, and settled in Chak No 111/7R of Chichawatni tehsil of district Sahiwal.
- ^ "In Death, as in Life".
- ^ Tohid, Owais. "In Death, as in Life". NewsLine Magazine.
- ^ "Pakistan's Sunni-Shia Rift | MEO". Archived from the original on 15 December 2019.
- ^ "The Hammer Poised to Strike in Pakistan". archive.democrats.com. 10 October 2003. Archived from the original on 27 November 2005. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
- ^ "Azam Tariq gunned down in Islamabad". Dawn.com. 7 October 2003. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
- ^ "Azam Tariq's murder could have huge repercussions". gulfnews.com. 7 October 2003. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
- ^ Imtiaz Gul (8 October 2003). "Cleric murder highlights sectarianism". Aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
- ^ "Former ASWJ leader Maulana Azam Tariq's suspected murderer arrested from Islamabad airport". The Express Tribune. 11 May 2017.
External links
edit- Shia News: a partisan account of Azam Tariq's release in 2001, with a background of the history of Sunni-Shia violence in Pakistan
- Pakistan Daily Times 7 October 2004
- Shia News report of Azam Tariq's assassination
- An Eye for an Eye? Azam Tariq's assassination news by Newsline (Pakistan).