HYDERABAD: The central secretary of information of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, has said he hopes Altaf Hussain will take back his statement about demolition of Lal Masjid as it is inappropriate and indecent.

Difference of opinion is welcome but Altaf Hussain should have avoided making such a statement.

The MQM leader usually makes such remarks in the heat of his fiery speeches but positive thing about him is that when his attention is drawn to a particular point, he does not flinch from taking it back, he said.

He was speaking at a meeting held in memory of JUI-F Sindh leader Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro who was recently killed in a targeted attack and later to journalists at the press club here on Monday.

He said that Altaf Hussain had the right to differ with the viewpoint of Maulana Abdul Aziz and criticise him for his outbursts but it was not appropriate to call for demolition of Lal Masjid.

Mr Ahmed said that the US should now raise “do more” demands to Afghanistan because the ball and Fazlullah were now in their court.

He said that those who had benefited from the infamous NRO should also be included in the list of 8,500 convicts to be hanged.

He said that according to media reports murderers of Dr Soomro had been arrested but police were not ready to share any information with the party. The provincial government had expertise in hiding culprits as despite lapse of 18 days to the murder police had not produced the accused, he said.

SUKKUR: Talking to party leaders, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed said that some western-funded NGOs and analysts are trying to link incidents of terrorism with madressahs and religious scholars to please their masters. But the fact remains that madresshas and Ulema are 100 per cent against terrorism, he said.

He said that JUI-F had strongly condemned the Peshawar massacre because it was unIslamic and barbaric.

He said the terrorists were gifts of America and West who had focussed on the country to achieve their nefarious designs. “Time has now come to understand their so-called friendship with Pakistan and throw the yoke of slavery off our necks,” he said.

He said the JUI-F would hold a sit-in on Dec 27. On March 1 the party would hold a march in Islamabad against arrest murder of Dr Soomro and suicide attacks on the JUI-F chief.

Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2014