ISLAMABAD: JUI-F General Secretary Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri has said that a moratorium on death penalty is encouraging terrorists and has limited counter-terrorism actions in the country.

Speaking at a press conference here on Tuesday, Maulana Haidri, who is Minister of State for Postal Services, condemned the terrorist attack on a school in Peshawar and said the state had no right to suspend the death penalty.

“Only a victim’s kin has the right to pardon the killer with or without taking compensation. This is an Islamic way of justice and being an ideological state Pakistan should have Islamic laws,” he said.

The JUI-F leader said terrorists did not fear the writ of law only because the punishment for heinous crimes like murder and terrorism was practically negligible.

“What we need is to hang the culprits involved in terrorist activities,” he said, adding: “What is the duty of security and intelligence agencies? Reaction to the Zarb-i-Azb military operation was expected. We are in a state of war and the preparation should also be up to that level.”

He also lashed out at the PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and said: “What else can we expect from (Chief Minister) Pervez Khattak and his cabinet members who are always found in Islamabad. The KP government is busy in sit-ins.”

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2014