LANDI KOTAL (Khyber Agency), Oct 24: Mufti Munir Shakir, a controversial religious leader, has restarted broadcasting messages from his illegal FM station in the Khyber Agency.

Sources in Bara said the location of the newly-established FM radio station is not known as yet. However, residents of Bara started aerial firing in jubilation, which lasted for half an hour, when they heard the Mufti’s voice on the radio after an interval of nearly 20 months.

In his first broadcast, for which prior announcements had been made about the frequencies and timing, the Mufti restricted himself to the translation of passages from the Holy Quran.

Mufti Shakir and his opponent Pir Saifur Rehman had been expelled from Bara in February last year after bloody clashes between their armed supporters.

A jirga comprising elders from all the seven tribal agencies made the decision of their compulsory expulsion from Bara. The two had serious differences over the observance of certain religious rituals and both had established illegal FM radio stations in their respective areas of support and were engaged in a mud-slinging campaign against each other.

After expulsion from Bara, the Pir, who originally belonged to Afghanistan, settled down in Lahore while Mufti Munir was arrested by secret agencies at the Karachi airport in May last year when he was trying to flee from the country. He was released in August this year.

It was only last week that Mufti Shakir decided to re-launch his FM radio from an undisclosed location. He, however, told his supporters that the broadcast of his radio could be heard in parts of Aurakzai Agency, Bara, Jamrud and the surrounding areas of Peshawar district.

Talking to Dawn from an undisclosed location, Mufti Shakir dispelled the impression that his FM radio had ever spread religious disharmony. He insisted that he would broadcast only Quranic teachings and would refrain from touching upon controversial issues.

Mufti Shakir refused to comment on his conciliatory role between Lashkar-i-Islam and Ansaarul Islam for the resolution of a bloody conflict between them. He also held back his views about the 25-point agenda announced by Lashkar-i-Islam regarding implementation of certain Sharia edicts and prohibition of certain old customs and traditions in Bara tehsil.