LAHORE: General Secretary of Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Liaquat Baloch on Monday said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) had issued a political press release which was unbecoming of a military force, DawnNews reported.

Speaking to media representatives after a meeting of the party’s Majlis-i-Shura (Advisory Council), Baloch said the army had no right to interfere in matters of politics.

On Sunday, JI chief Syed Munawar Hasan’s recent controversial statements of giving the certificate of martyrdom to Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Hakeemullah Mehsud and deriding military personnel who have rendered sacrifices in the war against terrorists, drew strong ire of the army which asked the JI chief to tender an unconditional apology.

Earlier today, the JI chief said he was standing by his statement in which he termed Mehsud a ‘martyr’, as his party’s Majlis-i-Shura (Advisory Council) met today to discuss the issues of local body elections, drone attacks and the controversy caused by the ‘martyr’ remark.

During the Majlis-i-Shura meeting, Baloch said the country would have to get out of the drone war in order to establish sustainable peace.

Speaking to DawnNews prior to the meeting, Baloch had said that Hasan did not attack the reputation of the army therefore no questions should be aimed at his statements.

He further said that martyrdom was a dignified rank which could only be conferred by “none other than Allah”.

On Nov 1, Hakimullah Mehsud, chief of the TTP, was killed in a US drone strike in the North Waziristan tribal region and was labelled by Fazlur Rehman and Munawar Hasan — the chiefs of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam - Fazl and JI — a ‘martyr’.