Ludhianvi bitter about Sharifs

ISLAMABAD: Maulana Muhammad Ahmed Ludhianvi, chief of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), says, “Sectarian violence is a conspiracy against the country; we should avoid it.”
He stated this while talking to this correspondent. On Yemen, Ludhianvi had advised the government, in a press conference, to choose a way which was in the interest of the country. “Iran is a neighbour and Saudi Arabia is a friend; we cannot ignore any of them so we should adopt a policy which should not become a cause of violence in the country,” Ludhianvi said clearly.
Ludhianvi’s father Sadrud Din Ludhianvi migrated from the Indian Punjab’s Ludhiana’s village Rai Kot district to Faisalabad’s town Kamalia, the Pakistani side of the Punjab, in 1947 following the Partition. During the migration, one of the elder Ludhianvi’s two sons died due to ailment on their way to Pakistan. The family buried him somewhere in the Punjab on the Indian side and kept moving until they reached Faisalabad’s town Kamalia.
Sixty-eight years after this tragic incident, Ahmed Ludhianvi still remembers his elder brother and wants to visit India to locate his grave. “I want to visit India to find out the grave of my brother,” said an emotional Ludhianvi. Ludhianvi wants peace with India and says both India and Pakistan have already lost many people in the wars.
Making an interesting observation about the Sharifs, he said: “The elder Sharif (Nawaz Sharif) is a jolly man with a smiling face, while the younger Sharif (Shahbaz Sharif) is a man without expressions.”
He recalled that in the 2008 election, Shahbaz wanted to get elected unopposed from Bhakkar where he had given ticket to one of his party activists.“I was contacted by Shahbaz Sharif through Shaukat Javed, the then Inspector General of Punjab Police, and we met,” recalled Ludhianvi.
Ludhianvi said that he withdrew his candidate on the request of Shahbaz and went to the Bhakkar court to get back the papers of his candidate.“I had announced the success of Shahbaz Sharif for not only wining the seat of the provincial assembly, but also becoming the chief minister of the Punjab.”
The political interests of Sharifs changed and during the 2013 election campaign, Shahbaz Sharif was campaigning against the same Ahmed Ludhianvi who once helped him become the unopposed chief minister of the Punjab.
“I was shocked that how Shahbaz Sharif had forgotten my gesture of help,” said Ludhianvi and quoted a saying of Hazrat Ali (RA): “Beware of mischief from the one you have favoured.”Ludhianvi said he won the election of 2013 but his opponent was declared the winner. “I took the matter to the election tribunal which decided in my favor. However, my opponent took the matter to the Supreme Court and the matter is pending there. It’s beyond me why his matter is not being fixed.”
Asked why he always favoured the Sharifs, he abruptly said he had learnt a lesson and next time he would think twice before favouring them, as they did not honour commitments. Ludhianvi holds Interior Minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan in high esteem saying that he is the only man in the government who is a man of commitment. He complained that the Punjab ruling elite doesn’t respect him but Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad does.
“Ibad first requested me to meet him following the peaceful funeral prayers of Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Nadeem who was killed in Karachi. Since he ensured peace in the city before, during and after the funeral prayers, I thanked him and have always been full of respect,” said Ludhianvi. Ludhianvi openly denounced the contact of the defunct Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) with his organisation.
Asked about any threats to his life, Ludhianvi didn’t share much but said: “The Home Department and the police often inform me (verbally) about the threats but since I am the head of a party, I keep on moving and working.”When told that his name was in the Schedule 4 of the Anti Terrorism Act, he expressed his ignorance in this regard.