Azam Tariq

Tariq was born to a Punjabi Rajput farmer, Mohammad Fateh, in Chichawatni, their family roots lying in the Kalyan village of the Patiala district, now in Indian Punjab, from where they moved due to the 1947 partition.

He studied at a local madrassa and then enrolled in the Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia in Banuri Town, Karachi.

Like most madrassa students and graduates at that time, he participated in the Soviet-Afghan jihad, and when he returned, while he was the imam of the Masjid-e-Siddiq-e-Akbar in North Karachi he formed the basis of the future SSP.

In August 2001, Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf banned seven alleged Islamic organizations, including Sipah-e-Sahaba, and Azam Tariq was arrested and jailed on charges of terrorism.

Azam Tariq was elected three times to the National Assembly of Pakistan in Jhang Sadr, even though his constituency was a predominantly Shi'a region.

He contested again in the 2002 elections, while in custody, and was again elected.

He was released in November 2002.

Azam Tariq (اعظم طارق March 1962 – 6 October 2003) was a Pakistani politician who was the leader of the politico-religious organisation Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), a Sunni Deobandi Muslim organization, which was officially banned by the government of Pakistan in August 2001.

After his assassination in 2003.

Muhammad Ahmed Ludhianvi was selected as the president of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan.

Tariq was shot and killed in an attack on 6 October 2003 alongside Islamabad as he left the M-2 Motorway to enter the city.

his funeral was led by Abdul Rashid Ghazi inside Lal Masjid.

The assassination was part of a growing wave of violent incidents in Pakistan between the sectarian Sunni and the Shiah Muslims.

Violence peaked in July 2003 with the Quetta mosque attack and the massacre of more than 50 people.

On 11 May 2017, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested a proclaimed offender after 13 years who murdered him.

On 26 June 2018, Pakistan lifted the ban on the organization.