The Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) has demanded from the concerned authorities to take action against the organisers of Asma Jahangir Conference for “defaming judiciary, army and other institutions of the country”.
The scholars belonging to different schools of thought including PUC Chairman and PM’s aide Hafiz Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, Maulana Asad Zakaria Qasmi, Maulana Noman Hashir, Allama Tahirul Hassan, Maulana Muhammad Aslam Siddiqui and several others, in a joint statement issued on Monday accused some of the participants of the conference for distorting facts pertaining to the the rights of minority communities in Pakistan.
The religious leaders stated that it was not right to link the mistakes of a few individuals with the institutions and to use foul language against the security institutions of the country.
“In Asma Jahangir Conference, on one hand, a deplorable attitude was adopted against the forces, judiciary and security forces and on the other false propaganda was spread regarding the rights of minorities.”
The leaders stated that numerous of fatwas (religious decree) have been issued many times, stating that Islam does not allow forced conversions and marriages, while adding that the US assessment of religious freedom in Pakistan is also politically motivated.
They also appealed the organizers — Supreme Court Bar Council and Pakistan Bar Council — to take action against those who spread the “anti-Pakistan propaganda” in the conference.
The deniers of the Khatm-e-Nabuwat (finality of the prophethood) were given free rein to twist the facts of the cases related to the minorities while the Muslim scholars were not invited to the conference to give their opinion, the scholars claimed.
They further stated that the minorities living in Pakistan are safer than minorities in other countries and it is regrettable that the atrocities being committed against marginalised communities in India were not even mentioned in the conference.
“This reveals the real agenda of Asma Jahangir Conference… the individuals who attack ideology of Pakistan and Islamic beliefs were invited to the conference,” the PUC added.
It is pertinent to note that a day earlier, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry chose not to attend the Asma Jahangir Conference in protest against PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s address, stating that allowing an absconder to speak along with Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed and other judges is akin to contempt of judges and judiciary.
