What Is Dawat-e-Islami And The Alleged Pakistan Link To The Udaipur Beheading

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is looking into a possible Pakistan link to the beheading of a Hindu tailor in Udaipur.

This is after Rajasthan Director General of Police (DGP) ML Lather said that one of the men arrested for the beheading, Ghouse Mohammad had links with Karachi-based Dawat-e-Islami and had visited the Pakistani city in 2014.

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¡°During the investigation, it was found that the accused, Ghouse Mohammad, was in touch with the organisation and had even made a visit,¡± the Rajasthan DGP had said at a press conference on Wednesday.

What is Dawat-e-Islami?

Dawat-e-Islami is a Sunni Islamic organisation that was founded in Karachi in September 1981 by Illyas Attar Qadri, whose followers call themselves Attari.

Dawat- e-Islami

Dawat-e-Islami is registered as a charity and operates in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh in the subcontinent and also in the UK.

It's declared aim is to propagate the message of Prophet Muhammad.

It offers online courses in Islamic studies and also runs a television channel.

Radicalised followers of Dawat-e-Islami

While the organisation itself has not been accused of any involvement in terror-related activities, some of its followers have.

In September 2020, Zaheer Hassan Mehmood, a Pakistani terrorist arrested for stabbing two persons outside the former Paris office of Charlie Hebdo magazine had told the authorities that he was a follower of Maulana Ilyas Qadri, the leader of Dawat-e-Islami.

Mumtaz Qadri, a former Pakistan Police commando who shot dead former Governor of Punjab Salmaan Taseer in 2011 for alleged blasphemy was also reportedly a follower of Dawat-e-Islami.

Pakistan rejects allegations

Pakistan has rejected the reported links between the accused with the Ismalist organisation.

In a statement, the Foreign Office said that it has seen reports in a segment of the Indian media referring to investigations into the murder case in Udaipur, seeking to link the accused individuals to an organisation in Pakistan.

"We categorically reject any such insinuations," the FO said.

AFP

The FO also said that such "malicious attempts" would not succeed in misleading the people, either in India or elsewhere in the world.

Though it has been established that Ghouse Mohammad had traveled to Pakistan, and had links to Dawat-e-Islami, it is still unclear what role the outfit has played in radicalising him.

Links between second accused and Dawat-e-Islami yet to be found

Incidentally, the second arrested - the man seen killing the tailor is Riaz Akhtari, a name used by the followers of Dawat-e-Islami.

AFP

Police are yet to confirm his links with the outfit.

According to PTI, Akhtari used to work at a local mosque in Udaipur and was involved in spreading religious propaganda.

A resident of Asind town in Bhilwara, Riaz had migrated 20 years ago and moved to Dubai.

¡°Riaz got married in 2001 and left Asind in 2002. He moved to Dubai thereafter and never returned. Even when his father died last year, he didn't come home,¡± a relative of his said.

It was not immediately clear when Akhtari returned to India, the sources said, adding that he shifted to a rented accommodation in Udaipur along with his wife and two children on June 12.

Mohammad Umar, his landlord, said the family vacated the house on June 28 just before the incident.

"I had never met him personally. It was his wife who approached mine for the accommodation. We asked for their ID proofs but they never gave them to us. The family left the house on June 28,¡± said the landlord.

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