Prior to the 2018 General Elections, Maulana (Islamic preacher) Ahmed Nakshabandi declared de-facto Prime Minister and Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum as “Fiji ke Raja” (King of Fiji) during the Islamic Prophet’s birth celebration event at the Maruru Mosque in Ba [1].
Imagine if a Maulana can publicly and blatantly declare Khaiyum as the ‘King of Fiji’ and thank Allah for ‘placing’ him and other Muslim politicians in position of power, and Khaiyum smiles indulgently when all this is being said, then it raises genuine questions on one what Khaiyum and the Islamist brotherhood has in store for the country.
Fast forward four years later, in 2022, startling revelations have emerged that an alleged Pakistani national by the name of Muhammad Irfan Attari, has been secretly administering a madrassa (Islamic school) for a few years. With the assistance of Maulvi Attari, a few other madrassas have allegedly been established around the country in deep secrecy.
The controversy surrounding the madrassa operated by Maulvi Attari is that it is a major breeding ground for new converts. Madrassas, all over the world, are known to be breeding grounds for conversion and radicalization. The converts in Maulvi Attari’s madrassa are believed to be from the iTaukei and Hindu Indian communities. Many believe that this Islamization project has the backing from the top layers of the ruling FijiFirst Government, most notably de-facto Prime Minister and A-G Sayed-Khaiyum.
Some questions that need to be pondered upon are: Is Muhammed Ifran Attari residing in Fiji under work or temporary visa, or is he a naturalized Fijian citizen? For how long has this Pakistani-origin person been living in the country? Is the FijiFirst Government aware of the suspicious activities carried out by him? Have the ‘converts’ in Attari’s madrassa converted of their own free will, or were they forced to convert, or were they converted by the lure of money and other benefits? Who are the accomplices in Maulana Attari’s controversial conversion project?
And not just such clandestine proselytization, even a Jinnah Memorial Building is coming up in Lautoka, Fiji, which houses a Muslim Primary School as well. It was Mohammad Ali Jinnah who was responsible for bloody partition of Bharat (India), and the deadly violence that ensued. It was because of him that millions of people were displaced and lost their ancestral homes, forever. It was because of him that millions of Hindus, Sikhs and even Muslims were killed in the ensuing 1946-47 riots. Hindus kept suffering for decades afterwards in both West and East Pakistan, and continue to face ethnic-religious cleansing and persecution to this day.
Why is Jinnah being mainstreamed in Fiji? Why is a man with such a dubious and bloody past being projected as a role model for children from an early age. Do such moves have the patronage of Khaiyum?
It is also a matter of national disgrace and shame that Fiji’s greatest academic and historian, late Professor Brij Lal’s ashes cannot return to his motherland Fiji and be disbursed in Tabia, Labasa in order for his atma (soul) to attain moksha (self-realization, liberation) [2,3]. And ironically, a Pakistani-origin Maulana is reportedly operating a madrassa and engaging in a blatant conversion project. The late Professor Lal’s ashes have been cruelly stopped by Sayed-Khaiyum from being returned to Fiji, critics allege.
This alleged Islamization project backed by Khaiyum has hit full speed with no signs of abating, all at the expense of Hindu Indians and iTaukeis, say locals. This also hints yet again at Khaiyum’s closeness with a notorious military-theocratic state like Pakistan, a state sponsor of terrorism, and the worst violator of minority rights in the world today.
References
2. https://www.fijitimes.com/party-pleads-to-bring-lals-ashes/
3. https://www.fijivillage.com/news/I-will-bring-my-late-husbands-ashes-home–Dr-Padma-Lal-85fx4r/
