ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) on Saturday demanded a strategy to combat sectarianism, claiming that international terror was fanning intra-faith hatred in the country.

A PUC meeting, chaired by its chairman Hafiz Mohammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, condemned the suicide blasts in Parachinar and Jeddah, stating that the elements responsible for these attacks were the enemies of Islam and Muslims.

Addressing on the occasion, Hafiz Tahir said the terrorists’ attacks in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were the work of terror groups who were interlinked.

He said Islamic states should improve information sharing.

“The leadership of Muslim world should strengthen military and ideological alliance against terrorism, extremism and sectarian violence,” Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi said.

The PUC also demanded that government should ensure that the rights of non-Muslims living in the country must be protected besides providing security and safety to them and their properties.

“The terror groups have been taking advantage by establishing themselves through extremist ideology, which is not even compatible with Islam, and targeting the vulnerable groups to destabilise the social fabric of the society,” the PUC chairman said.

The PUC demanded that the government should take to task the elements responsible for suicide attack in Parachinar.

The meeting was attended by PUC leaders Sahibzada Zahid Mehmood Qasmi, Maulana Ayub Safdar, Maulana Abdul Kareem Nadeem and others.

Published in Dawn January 22nd, 2017