ISLAMABAD, Nov 28: The Milli Yakjehti Council (MYC) urged the government on Wednesday to make part of the law a 17-point code of conduct prepared by it over 15 years ago to maintain sectarian harmony.

“The council will send delegations to the four provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan and the federal government and urge them to make the code part of the law,” MYC chief Dr Abul Khair Mohammad Zubair said at a press conference after a meeting of its central executive committee.

However, the MYC members failed to answer questions about the role of the religious parties in ensuring that the code would be followed by the clergy. They also did not specify their stance if police raided any mosque or seminary in case of violation of the code after it was adopted as a law.

Answering a question, the MYC chief said: “We are in contact with all the Shia and Sunni organisations to bring them to our platform.”

Sahibzada Abul Khair, a leader of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan (Noorani), urged the government to make the Council of Islamic Ideology effective and efficient.

“The selection in the council should not be made as political bribery but on the basis of competence and merit.”

The MYC members criticised the Rawalpindi administration for its failure to maintain peace on Ashura Day.

The council warned of an international conspiracy being hatched against the country through sectarianism and lauded the services of its late leaders Shah Ahmed Noorani and Qazi Hussain Ahmed for maintaining cordial relations among different sects.

MYC secretary general Liaquat Baloch said the nation was looking towards religious parties to ensure harmony not only among the sects but also the religions.

The council decided to form a commission comprising senior members from all the five religious boards to look into emerging issues related to Islam and consider the level of ties between Pakistan and the US.