Clerics and the Ministry of Higher Education on Saturday called for an immediate probe into the murder of Mohammad Ayaz Niazi who was killed in an explosion in Wazir Akbar Khan Mosque in Kabul’s diplomatic enclave on Tuesday night.
They said that the government should arrest the perpetrators who planned the murder and shouldn’t treat the incident as commonplace.
On Tuesday, an explosion rocked Wazir Akbar Khan Mosque in Kabul’s diplomatic area, leaving at least two people dead including mosque Imam Mohammad Ayaz Niazi and wounding eight others.
“It is our demand and that of the entire nation to launch a full investigation into the incident and the outcomes should be shared with the people,” said Abdul Tawab Balakarzai, the acting Minister of Higher Education.
“If the government remains weak regarding the issue, the people will not remain silent, the people will act and they will stand to defend the blood of Mawlavi (Niazi),” said Haji Bashir, a resident in Kabul.
Ayazi’s son meanwhile vowed to continue his father’s mission.
“They (attackers) believe that there will be no jihad if they target a mujahid, but it is not going to happen,” said Niazi’s son.
“The security forces come onto the scene when an incident happens, but before that our intelligence agencies are sleeping and they don’t care about the Afghan people,” said a resident in Kabul Safiullah.
Also on Friday, Afghan religious figures and members of the public at the funeral ceremony for Niazi called on the Afghan government and security institutions to arrest the perpetrators who planned the murder and serve them justice.
Some clerics meanwhile threatened to cut ties with the government if the plotters of the attack on Niazi weren’t held to account.
Mohammad Ayaz Niazi was born in 1964 in Yemgan district of northeastern Badakhshan province.
He graduated from Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, and specialized in the study of Islamic economy. He also earned a doctorate in international relations in Islamic jurisprudence.
After he returned from Egypt, he started as a professor at Kabul University and also was an imam at Wazir Akbar Khan mosque.