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Indian clerics were in Pakistan intel’s custody, to return home tomorrow

Meanwhile, according to some Pakistani news agencies, the clerics told media persons that they had gone to meet their followers in interior Sindh, where there was no phone connectivity.

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Nazim Ali Nizami (left) and Asif Nizami at the Daata Darbar shrine
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The two clerics of Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah, who had gone missing in Pakistan on Wednesday, have been traced, Islamabad informed India on Saturday. Asif Ali Nizami, 82, the head priest of Nizamuddin Dargah, and his nephew Nazim Nizami, 66, are currently in Karachi and will return to India on March 20.

Overwhelmed by the news, the family members of the clerics said they were grateful to the Indian government for taking prompt action in this regard.

“This is wonderful news for us. We would like to thank the Indian government, specifically External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, for helping us in this hour of grief,” said Amir Ali Nizami, son of Asif Ali Nizami. 

The news surfaced minutes after Swaraj tweeted, saying she had spoken to Sartaj Aziz, foreign affairs adviser to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief, regarding the missing Indian clerics and he assured her of all help in tracing them.

Meanwhile, according to some Pakistani news agencies, the clerics told media persons that they had gone to meet their followers in interior Sindh, where there was no phone connectivity. 

Earlier on Saturday, officials in Pakistan intelligence had told news agencies that the clerics “were in custody over their alleged links with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Altaf Hussain.” 

The clerics were deplaned from a Karachi-bound Shaheen Airlines plane on March 14 at the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore and shifted to an undisclosed location for investigation, official sources told news agencies. “They are being interrogated for their alleged links with Altaf’s partymen in Karachi,” the sources said, adding they will be freed if nothing is established against them.

“What is MQM? Is it a political group or what. And who is Altaf Hussain?” asked shocked family members of the clerics back home.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh had also contacted the family on Saturday and assured them of every possible help.  

The clerics had gone to Pakistan on March 6, to meet their relatives in Karachi. From there, they had travelled to pay tribute at the Dargah of Khwaja Fariduddin Masud Ganjshakar, popularly known as Data Darbar shrine, in Pakpattan, around 160 km from Lahore. Exchanges between clerics of the Nizamuddin Dargah and the Data Darbar in Pakistan are part of a regular tradition. While Nazim Nizami travels to Pakistan quite frequently, head priest Asif Nizami had gone there after 30 years.

In a series of tweets, External Affair Minster Sushma Swaraj on Friday had said “We have also contacted their “host” in Karachi who appears to be under pressure not to speak to the Indian High Commission.”

“I am in constant touch with our High Commission. However, there is no official confirmation reg their whereabouts,” she said.

MQM was founded as a students’organisation by Altaf Hussain in 1980’s. Pakistan had last year launched a crackdown on the MQM after party leader Hussain made anti-Pakistan comments during his speeches.

(With Agency Inputs)

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