Riaz Basra (1967 – 14 May 2002) was, with Akram Lahori a.k.a. Muhammad Ajmal and
Malik Ishaq
Malik Ishaq ( ur, ; 1959 – 29 July 2015) was a Pakistani militant, and leader of globally designated Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).
Formerly a member of anti-Shia militant group Sipah-e-Sahaba, Ishaq co-founded the LeJ in 1996. Under Ishaq's ...
, a founder of the militant organization
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ; ur, ) or "Army of Jhangvi", is a Deobandi Sunni supremacist, terrorist and jihadist militant organisation based in Afghanistan. The organisation operates in Pakistan and Afghanistan and is an offshoot of anti-Shi ...
during 1996.
Career
Riaz Basra was born to Ghulam Muhammad and Jalal Bibi in Chak Chah Thandiwala, Sargodha, in 1967. He studied at madrassas in Lahore and Sargodha before joining the political party
Sipah-e-Sahaba
Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP, , Guardians of the Prophet's Companions), renamed to Millat-e-Islamia, is a Islamist organisation in Pakistan, which also functioned as a political party. It broke away from the main Deobandi Sunni organisation ...
in 1985. Basra allegedly fought in the Afghan War on the
mujahideen
''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term th ...
side, receiving a bullet wound in the leg.
[Shamsul Islam Na]
Basra encounter: a poorly staged drama
''Dawn (Pakistan)'', 17 May 2002
Among his objectives was the establishment of a Sunni Islamic Emirate in Pakistan and the declaration of Shias as non-Muslims. In 1988, he had also tried his luck, unsuccessfully, for an assembly seat from Lahore, Punjab.
Contesting against
Nawaz Sharif
Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi language, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime ...
and winning 9000 votes, the same year he was also made the central-secretary (broadcast and publications) of the SSP.
Basra was alleged to be involved in killings of hundreds of Shias, including Shia doctors, policemen, lawyers, in killing Iranian diplomat Sadiq Ganji in 1990 and for killing the Shia leader Syed Sikandar Shah, and a deadly attack on a gathering at a Shia cemetery in 1998, in an assassination attempt on
Nawaz Sharif
Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi language, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime ...
in 1999, besides being accused of several bank heists. He was arrested in 1992 and sentenced to death for killing Ganji, but escaped from prison in 1994.
Basra was also alleged to be involved in killing the Imamia Students Organization leader Dr Muhammad Ali Naqvi in 1995, Sargodha commissioner Syed Tajammal Abbas in 1996, and in killing Gujranwala SSP Muhammad Ashraf Marth in 1997.
In 1996, Basra broke from Sipah-e-Sahaba to form his own anti-Shia organization Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ; ur, ) or "Army of Jhangvi", is a Deobandi Sunni supremacist, terrorist and jihadist militant organisation based in Afghanistan. The organisation operates in Pakistan and Afghanistan and is an offshoot of anti-Shi ...
. The organization takes its name from the deceased founder of Sipah-e-Sahaba, Haq Nawaz Jhangvi
Haq Nawaz Jhangvi ( ur, حق نواز جھنگوی, ''Ḥaq Nawāz Jhangvī''; 1952 – 23 February 1990) was a Pakistani cleric who founded the Anjumane Sipahe Sahaba on 6 September 1986.
Biography
Haq Nawaz Jhangvi was born in 1952 i ...
, who was killed in a bomb attack by an unknown assailants believed to be sponsored by Shia group on 23 February 1990.
On one occasion, Basra is believed to have coerced the Punjab Chief Minister into easing police pressure on his group. He had demonstrated his ability to penetrate the CM's security by having himself photographed with the CM without his knowledge. On another occasion, he had got himself photographed with Nawaz Sharif in a similar fashion, and sent the photo to Sharif's office.
Death
Basra had a bounty of Rs. 5 million on his head and when he was killed, reportedly in a shootout in May 2002, in Kot Choudhary Sher Muhammad Ghalvi
Kot is the surname of a Polish szlachta (nobility) family.
The surname derives from the nickname with the literal meaning "cat".Kazimierz Rymut, Nazwiska Polaków. Słownik historyczno-etymologiczny, Wydawnictwo Naukowe DWN, Kraków 2001
The f ...
, Dokota, a Shia village in Vehari district, Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
, doubts were expressed about his death because Sargodha police had already claimed to have killed him in 1999 and the Punjab police had also claimed to have killed him on six occasions. Basra and three other Lashkar-e-Jhangvi members had come to stage an attack on Choudhary Fida Hussain Ghalvi, a prominent Shia leader, but were met with armed resistance by local villagers. According to one report, a special police brigade arrived to support a half-hour later, ending the fight, during which all four Lashkar-e-Jhangvi members were killed.[Howard D. Frenc]
For Militant, No Glorified End, but Death in the Dust
''New York Times'', 19 May 2002 Doubts have been expressed about this version of events because Basra was reported to be in police custody at the time of this shootout and hardly anyone believes this account to be true. However, Pakistan's then Information Minister Nisar Memon
Nisar Memon (born 31 December 1942; ur, نثار میمن, sd, نثار ميمڻ ) is a politician from Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. He was a member of the Senate of Pakistan, belonging to Pakistan Muslim League (Q) during the Pervez Musharraf ...
denied any foul-play. It is alleged he was killed by Shia fighters seeking to take matters into their own hands after police incompetence.
Basra was buried in his home village of Khurhseed, near Jhawarian outside of Sargodha. His funeral was attended by 20,000 people; though police presence prevented SSP, LeJ of leadership and thousands of people from participating, and Basra's body was wrapped in the LeJ flag.
References
External links
''Information on Riaz Basra, the alleged assassin of Iranian diplomat Sadiq Ghanji who escaped custody of the Pakistan authorities''
European Country of Origin Information Network.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Basra, Riaz
1967 births
2002 deaths
People from Sargodha District
Assassinated Pakistani people
Pakistani Islamists
Terrorism in Pakistan
Deobandis
Leaders of Islamic terror groups