ISLAMABAD: In a meeting with Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, the Tehreek-i-Nifaz Fiqh Jafaria (TNFJ) has reiterated its demand for curbing foreign funding for religious and sectarian groups, and said it had been raising the issue since 1980.

A TNFJ delegation, led by its secretary general Shujat Ali Bukhari, said had successive governments paid heed to their demand, terrorism — the most serious threat facing the country — would not have become uncontrollable.

The delegation members regretted that banned organisations were openly holding rallies and re-organising their parties, which should be checked.

They said that banned (sectarian) organisations had close links with terrorists.

Mr Bukhari recalled that TNFJ leader Allama Hamid Ali Shah Moosvi had signed an agreement with the Mohammad Khan Junejo-led government in 1985 to help end sectarianism in the country.

“Almost all religious processions in the country are taken out under the agreement, which has helped maintain tolerance and coherence in the country,” he said.

The minister and the delegation decided to cooperate in efforts aimed at eradicating terrorism from the country.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2017