LAHORE, May 18: A meeting of religious leaders from various schools of thought on Wednesday formed a body for coordinating and uniting all religious forces to jointly condemn the desecration of Islamic values and humiliation of Muslims. JUP-NS president Engineer Salimullah was made convener of the coordinating committee which would contact all religious parties for planning an all-Pakistan convention in the near future.

The convention would formulate a plan for an effective protest against the desecration of the Holy Quran by US officials and protecting Muslim interests in various regions. It decided that the meeting would be organized by the Jamaatud Daawa and chaired by Prof Muhammad Saeed.

Participants in the meeting condemned the desecration of the Quran by Americans who, they said, were champions of tolerance and moderation and criticized Muslim rulers for not lodging protests with Washington.

They identified lack of unity as the biggest weakness of the Muslims.

Mr Khan claimed that Jihad was due against the current Pakistan government which, he alleged, was a government of the ‘infidels.’

Abdul Gaffar Ropri suggested that the government should be asked to demand custody of the accused involved in the sacrilege.

Maulana Fateh Muhammad, Naubahar Shah, Abdur Rahman Makki and Naeem Badshah were prominent among participants.