ISLAMABAD, June 27: An All Parties ‘Hurmat-i-Quran’ Conference (APHQC) has decided to extend its activities worldwide to make Muslims aware of the conspiracies being hatched against the Holy Quran. The decision came at a day-long conference organized by Jamaat Dawah at a hotel here on Sunday. It was attended by 44 political, religious, social and professional organisations from across the country.

It adopted a joint declaration demanding closure of the notorious Guantanamo Bay, Abu Gharib and Bagram torture cells.

The APHQC strongly condemned the desecration of the Holy Quran by American forces and demanded that the US government should tender an unqualified apology for hurting Ummah’s sentiments.

Prominent among the participants were MMA president Qazi Hussain Ahmed, PML-N chairman Raja Zafarul Haq, former Pakistan president Rafiq Tarar, JUI-S president Maulana Samiul Haq, Jamiat Ahle Hadith chief Prof Sajid Mir, Tehrik Hurmat-i-Quran convener Salimullah Khan, former ISI chief Gen Hameed Gul, Admiral (retired) Iftikhar Sarohi, PDP chief Nawabzada Mansoor Khan, Abdur Rashid Turabi and Syed Hamid Saeed Kazmi.

The conference termed Pentagon’s report on desecration of the Holy Quran as insufficient and demanded an impartial inquiry by a committee consisting of renowned international personalities.

The APHQC urged Muslim states to immediately distance themselves from the American war against terrorism which was in fact a crusade against Muslims and Islam. It also urged them to declare that they would not abide by any accord with Washington if the US failed to fulfil the requirement of justice in the probe into the desecration of Holy Quran incidents.

The participants urged Muslim states to dismantle torture houses from their territories and provide fundamental human rights to their citizens.

The conference didn’t absolve Pakistani rulers of the incidents of desecration of Holy Quran for they have taken a course of cowardice by handing over 700 Muslims to the American administration, which had encouraged Americans to commit the worst crime.

The conference declared to observe last Friday of May every year as ‘Hurmat-i-Quran’ day all over the world as proposed by Morocco. It declared that the condemnation of US forces’ act would continue in all mosques all over the world till the American government tenders apology and redress Muslim grievances in this respect.

The APHQC said ‘jehad’ is a mean to end terrorism and extended outright support to Muslims’ struggle in Palestine, Iraq, Kashmir, Afghanistan, Chechnya and Philippines.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed alleged that rulers were campaigning for enlightened moderation on the behest of their Western masters and trying to enforce that ‘edition’ of Islam which was acceptable to the West.

Raja Zafarul Haq said that prejudice against Islam was rampant in the West which was evident from the fact that the US, Israel and their supporters start hue and cry whenever they observe any harm to infidel world, but they remain silent on the maltreatment in Kashmir, Palatine, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay.

Maulana Samiul Haq, Prof Sajid Mir, Rafiq Tararr and a former vice president of the Supreme Court Bar Association Ikram Chaudhry also spoke on the occasion.