BAN THIS HATE PREACHER NOW
Fury as outlawed cleric to speak at Scots mosque
A HATE cleric so extreme that he is banned in Pakistan is being allowed to preach in Scotland. Hardline Syed Muzaffar Shah Qadri has publicly praised the assassin who
helped inspire the killer of Glasgow shopkeeper Asad Shah. Now politicians want Qadri outlawed from speaking here. MSP Annie Wells said: “There’s no place for this kind of hate in Scotland.”
A BANNED Pakistani cleric whose warped ideology is linked to the murder of popular Glasgow shopkeeper Asad Shah is to spread his message of sectarian intolerance to Scotland.
Hard-line preacher Syed Muzaffar Shah Qadri is due to speak at Falkirk Central Mosque later this month – despite praising a murderer linked to the killing of Glasgow shopkeeper Asad Shah, who was stabbed 27 times after wishing his customers a “Happy Easter”.
The Sunday Post can reveal the zealot has been labelled a “firebrand” by the authorities in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, and barred from preaching his incendiary sermons.
Yet despite the ban imposed on him in Pakistan, Qadri has faced no obstacle against his speaking at the Falkirk place of worship on December 15.
Flyers promoting the event are currently being circulated and appear on the mosque’s Facebook page.
While there is no suggestion regular worshippers share Qadri’s views, the development has concerned politicians, and comes as Nicola Sturgeon prepared to visit members of the Glasgow mosque where Asad Shah worshipped today.
MP Siobhain McDonagh, who has campaigned for a clampdown on extremists preachers entering the UK, last night said she was shocked Qadri was being allowed to travel from Pakistan.
She said: “I’m amazed that somebody can be banned in Karachi but get entry clearance to the UK.
“The Home Office has got to stop hiding behind the line it does not comment on individual cases because this is a real issue for everyone in the UK.”
Qadri is a supporter of Islamist assassin Mumtaz Qadri, who murdered popular Pakistani politician Salman Taseer for speaking out against the country’s brutal blasphemy laws in January, 2011.
The same brutal killer was also idolised by Bradford taxi driver Tanveer Ahmed, 32, who butchered peace-loving shopkeeper Asad Shah, 40, in a copycat killing the day before Good Friday this year.
The Sunday Post has obtained and translated footage of Qadri delivering sermons, where he praises the political murder which inspired a bloody rampage by the knife-wielding cab driver.
The authorities in Karachi have described Qadri as acting in a manner “prejudicial to public safety and maintenance of public order”.
He was banned from addressing crowds in October, according to a legal document seen by The Sunday Post.
As news of his arrival in Scotland emerged, there have been calls to have him banned.
Fiyaz Mughal, director of antiextremist group Faith Matters, said: “No individual who promotes sectarianism internationally should be allowed into the UK as there is a risk statements would be made that further inflame issues in the UK or create issues that our country does not need.” Scottish Conservative equalities spokeswoman Annie Wells MSP has also raised questions about the event.
“If this individual is deemed too extreme for Pakistan, then that tells you all you need to know about his views,” she said.
“There’s no place for this kind of hate preaching in Scotland, and we shouldn’t tolerate it.”
Sources in Pakistan claim Qadri’s speeches have become highly controversial in his homeland.
Our source said: “It’s amazing British authorities are allowing someone to spout this nonsense in the UK – especially since he’s banned in Pakistan.
“It gives people the wrong idea about Islam and is probably the reason you have people like Tanveer Ahmed getting radicalised and committing cold-blooded murder.”
In Falkirk, people were shocked at the planned event.
One local pensioner, Duncan Walker, 69, said: “It depends on his ideas. We don’t want him recruiting young people into these situations, especially with IS in Syria.
There’s no place for hate preaching in Scotland. We shouldn’t tolerate it