LAHORE: Jamaat-i-Islami Secretary-General Liaquat Baloch has said murderers, terrorists and enemies of humanity don’t deserve any concession and the law of the land calls for the execution of their death sentence after completion of trial and other legal formalities.

Talking to the media after leading the Friday congregational prayers here, he said the death sentence was implemented all over the world as it created a sense of respect and sanctity of law in society.

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He said the death sentence granted to terrorists and saboteurs was opposed to indirectly help the criminals under pressure of a specific lobby working for foreign masters.

Mr Baloch said the decision of the prime minister and the army chief to enforce the death sentence to all those whose cases had completed all legal requirements should be implemented.

The JI leader said that the rulers should realize their lapses and try to make amends, adding that the people in power and the national leadership should firmly resolve to defend the country’s ideology and the constitution.

He said the turn of events had given a chance to the rulers and they should review the policies being followed since 9/11 and decide the national priorities keeping in view supreme national goals.

Meanwhile, Youm-i-Dua and Istighfar (day of prayer and penitence) was observed all over the country for the martyrs of the Peshawar tragedy on the appeal of the JI emir Sirajul Haq.

The imams and khatibs in their Friday addresses at mosques condemned the massacre of young students at the Peshawar school and said that perpetrators of this heinous crime could not be called Muslims as Islam is the religion of peace and tolerance.

Special prayers were made for peace in the country, national unity and for the Peshawar martyrs.

The JI chief in his Friday address at the Mansoora mosque said the martyrdom of children was a big tragedy not only for Pakistan but the whole Muslim world, adding the history failed to present its precedent even during the notorious and tyrannical era of the Tatars.

He also announced cancellation of the JI rally in the Punjab capital on Dec 21 and its public meeting at the Mazar-i-Quaid in Karachi on Dec 25 because of the Peshawar tragedy.

The JI chief said the nation had buried its minor children who became victims of the tragedy which was a great sacrifice, and he was sure that this sacrifice would bear fruit.

Mr Haq emphasized that the solution of terrorism and lawlessness lay only in the enforcement of shariah which provided solution to all human problems.

He said the Holy Quran has declared that life lies in qisas, but our rulers, under the pressure of the Europe Union, had abolished the death sentence due to which the country had become a centre of mischief.

He called for strict implementation of the Islamic articles of the constitution to meet challenges, and said there was no need to consult the US or the western powers on this issue.

The JI chief said it was the responsibility of the state and not any individual to enforce the sentences announced by courts.

He said it was the prerogative of the heirs of a deceased and not the state to grant pardon to murderers. The president, the prime minister or the state could simply try for a reconciliation or compromise but they did not have the right to grant pardon to a criminal.

The JI chief appreciated the show of national unity in the wake of the Peshawar tragedy and the All Parties Conference presided over by the prime minister.

He said all political parties had given a mandate to the prime minister to decide a line of action and had also nominated their representatives for the purpose, while the government had announced that it would decide the matter within a week.

Published in Dawn December 20th , 2014