ISLAMABAD: Leading Ulema of the country, belonging to different schools of thought, on Monday have endorsed the statement given by Army Chief General Asim Munir during his meeting with them that there is no room for the use of force by any group against the state.
Talking to a private news TV channel, religious scholars, members of the Pakistan Ulema Council, have renewed their pledge to support wholeheartedly Pakistan Army in its war against terrorism.
Council Chief Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi has said among 57 Islamic countries, Pakistan is the only country whose army chief is a Syed and a ‘Hafize Quran’. “During his meeting with us, General Munir talked about making Pakistan ‘State of Tayyaba’,” he has said, adding, “Today there is a need that Pakistanis become one nation.”
The only desire of the army personnel, guarding our frontiers, is to lay down their lives while defending the country, Ashrafi has said, adding, “Conspiracies were hatched on several occasions to divide the army as well as the nation, but failed.”
Maulana Hassaan Haseeb Rehman, one of the religious scholars who was part of the delegation, which had called on General Munir, has said that Ulema are proud of the country’s army chief, who quotes verses of the holy Quran in his speeches. “His statement that he will answer our each and every question in the light of the holy Quran gave us a lot of comfort,” he has said, adding, “We have complete trust in our armed forces. Because they are the forces not only Pakistan but for the entire Muslim Ummah.”
The cleric went on to say that General Munir, during his talk with the religious scholars, also made it clear that Pakistan was standing shoulder to shoulder with the Palestinians suffering at the hands of Israeli forces.
Three days ago, on November 17, Pakistan Ulema Council’s delegation had a meeting with Army Chief Gen Asim Munir at the GHQ in Rawalpindi at which the increasing incidents of militancy came under discussion.
Addressing the ulema then, the Army Chief had said that the use of force and armed action by any militia, entity or group other than the state was unacceptable. He had said “Pakistan belongs to all Pakistanis without any religious, provincial, tribal, linguistic, ethnic, sectarian or any other distinction. Use of force and armed action by any militia, entity or group other than the state is unacceptable.”
The army chief had lauded the “Paigham-e-Pakistan” fatwa by religious scholars to nullify misleading propaganda disseminated by extremists and terrorists and called upon the scholars for its propagation and implementation in letter and spirit and shun internal schisms.
The COAS signified the role of Ulema in harnessing youth towards understanding of Qur’an and Sunnah and character building alongside other academic knowledge and technical skills. He said that there is no space for intolerance and extreme behaviour by any entity against anyone, particularly against minorities and vulnerable segments of society.
