LAHORE: The Muttahida Ulema Board Punjab has urged the government to bring into mainstream the leadership of those banned outfits who had never been part of any illegal activity and are loyal to the Constitution of Pakistan.

Speaking at a press conference here on Wednesday, Muttahida Ulema Board Punjab chairman Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi said the National Action Plan had categorically defined demerits of the banned outfits, therefore, administrations of mosques and seminaries of religious sects should not be frightened. “The mosques and seminaries should be protected,” he added.

He said a 10-member committee of the board had been constituted to check hateful literature, books, speeches and social media pages and websites. A five-member committee of the board had also been made to make coordination with ulema at divisional, district and tehsil levels.

He also urged the government to ban social networking sites/pages involved in fanning sectarianism.

Ashrafi said the mosques and seminaries taken over by the government should not be altered to any other religious sect.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2019