Know more about Tahir-ul-Qadri , the cleric who has stormed Pakistan

New Delhi: Head of the Tehrik Minhaj-ul-Quran organisation, Tahir-ul-Qadri, has hit headlines since he returned to Pakistan after living in Canada for nearly seven years.As the head of a populist Barelvi group, Qadri has the support of numerous followers that are a result of a widespread educational and preaching institutions that are spread mainly across Punjab and other provinces as well. He first came to prominence by writing a 2010 fatwa condemning terrorism, reports the Associated Press.According to a Foreign Policy report, Qadri's departure from the country following his resignation as a Member of the National Assembly had rendered him politically irrelevant and the fact that he has Canadian citizenship, in addition to his Pakistani citizenship, means he cannot contest elections himself.Qadri was born on 19 Februrary 1951 in Jhang, to Farid-ud-Din Qadri. His ancestors belong to the Punjabi Sial family of Jhang . Qadri started his education at the Christian ‘Sacred Heart School' in Jhang, where he learned English and was exposed to Christianity at an early age. He learnt under Diya' al-Din al-Madani. He studied Hadith from Muhaddith al-Hijaz. Qadri continued his quest for knowledge early in his life and now he is a canadian citizen.Qadri studied law at the University of the Punjab, Lahore where he graduated with an LLB in 1974, gaining a Gold Medal for his academic performances.Following a period of legal practice as an advocate, he taught law at the University of the Punjab from 1978 to 1983 and then gained his PhD in Islamic Law (Punishments in Islam, their Classification and Philosophy) from the same university in 1986 where his supervisors were Bashir Ahmad Siddiqui (‘Ulum al-Islamiyya) and Justice Javaid Iqbal.He was appointed as a professor of law at the University of Punjab, where he taught British, US and Islamic constitutional law.Qadri's desire to cleanse the political system is a constant fantasy of Rawalpindi, the garrison town next to Islamabad which houses the military headquarters. Qadri is also against terrorism and suicide bombing, the other big current concern of Rawalpindi. The theory about his military links also holds that he has the tacit support of the West, as the price that America, Britain and other powers are willing to pay for the Pakistani military's help in exiting Afghanistan with some kind of political settlement there. But both the Pakistani military and American officials have denied any connection to Qadri, and he has also denied any such link himself.Qadri founded a Sufism-based organisation Minhaj-ul-Quran International in October 1981 and spent the next decade expanding it nationally and internationally.In a short span of time, he emerged as the country's leading Islamic jurist and scholar and revivalist of the Islamic ideology. He was appointed as a Jurist Consult (legal adviser) on Islamic law for the Supreme Court and the Federal Shari‘a Court of Pakistan and also worked as a specialist adviser on Islamic curricula for the Federal Ministry of Education of Pakistan at various times between 1983 and 1987. Tahir-ul-Qadri is also the founding chairman of the political party Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT).A religious moderate from the gentle Sufi tradition, Qadri published a weighty tract against terrorism in 2010. Qadri returned from Canada last year after remaining involved in the Islamic charity affairs till about a month ago. His sudden return to join the pre-election power games seems to be shaping the fate of politicians in Pakistan.The sudden ascent of cleric-turned-activist, who has been raising the issue of corruption in Pakistan, has prompted speculation that the military might be using him as a proxy to delay the polls and install a compliant interim administration.Qadri's fiery speeches give credence to the belief that he enjoys a strong Army backing. He has made it clear that he can help derail next elections. Insiders believe that Qadri could be the Army's rear entry ticket to power.