Ex-Pakistan Army Captain Absolved of Terrorism Charge

 

Washington, DC: A former Pakistani army captain, who now drives a cab in Toronto, was picked up by the Canadian security agencies on suspicion of terrorism links but has since been released, causing some consternation in the Pakistani-Canadian community which feels that it is being targeted, as in America.
Raja Ghulam Mustafa deserted the Pakistan army in 1997 and sought political refuge in the United States, on the plea that he was fearful of being jailed in Pakistan for opposing the government of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. The US authorities turned down his application in 2001 because it was not satisfied that he was a genuine political refugee. Also, after the fall of the Bhutto government, it was logical that he returned to his country, something he did not do. Instead, some time later, he crossed into Canada, where he changed his name to Murtaza because he did not want his refugee claim to be turned down by the Canadians.
What plea he took in Canada, where he arrived in 2003, is not clear since his original “persecutor” was no longer the prime minister of Pakistan. However, his application in Canada was successful.
Raja Ghulam Mustafa/Murtaza was picked up on 16 March in Newmarket, Ontario, by the Canadian Border Services Agency officers on suspicion of being a member of Lashkar-i-Tayyaba. He has since been released and cleared of the terrorism charge. He told the newspaper Toronto Sun at the weekend that his reputation remains in tatters in the wake of his “high-profile” arrest. “I am terrified. They destroyed my total future. They made this world for me total hell fire. I am not a terrorist.”
There is no indication that Raja Ghulam Mustafa has any intention of leaving the country which he says has become “hell fire” of him. The US, Canada and countries of Europe are full of fake “political refugees” .
One “political refugee,” in Germany, who had sought asylum fearing “persecution” by the Nawaz Sharif government in 1998, was phoned by the German immigration authorities in October 1999 which offered him congratulations after the Sharif government’s overthrow. He was also asked when he was returning home, now that his “persecuting regime” was gone.
He replied that he was even more terrified of being persecuted by the regime that had replaced that of Nawaz Sharif.

 

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