PESHAWAR: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl general secretary Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri has said that the federal government is targeting religious seminaries under the garb of National Action Plan (NAP).

Talking to media persons at the Peshawar Press Club on Tuesday, he warned that no one would be allowed to use NAP as a tool against the religious institutions in the country. He claimed that NAP was not being implemented in its true sense rather it was misused.

Maulana Haideri, who is also deputy chairman of the Senate, said that his party had also supported NAP and establishment of military courts in the larger national interest, but they could not remain silent if anything was done wrong. He alleged that NAP was used as a tool against madressahs and for the arrest of religious scholars under the fourth schedule.

The religious seminaries, he said, were the places of Islamic teaching which had nothing to do with terrorism. He said that such policies would create unrest in the country and its entire responsibility would rest with the government.

Asked about the Panama Leaks, the JUI-F leader said that the issue was in the court and as such he did not want to comment on it. Regarding Fata-KP integration, he said that if the civil society, tribesmen and political parties were supporting the merger, then what was wrong in holding a referendum on the issue in tribal region as demanded by JUI-F. He said that opinion of the tribal people should not be underestimated.

Maulana Haideri said that his party was going to organise an international conference to mark the foundation of the party, in which imminent religious scholars, including Imam-i-Ka’aba, would participate. He said that the conference would also highlight the role of JUI-F in preaching of Islam. He said that Pakistan had come into being in the name of Islam and there was no room for secularism and liberalism in the country.

He claimed that JUI-F had massive strength in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Fata, Balochistan and Sindh, but it was not projected by media appropriately.

Published in Dawn February 8th, 2017