KARACHI: The Majlis-i-Wahdatul Muslimeen has rejected the Tahaffuz Bunyad-i-Islam Bill passed by the Punjab Assembly and described it as ‘unconstitutional’.

Leaders of the MWM on Thursday said that in the presence of the Constitution of Pakistan, there was no need for enacting such a ‘controversial’ law.

Allama Baqir Abbas Zaidi, the MWM Sindh secretary general, said the Shia community had rejected the controversial legislation outright and viewed the bill as an attempt to impose views of one sect forcibly on the others.

“We believe that the passing of the bill from the Punjab Assembly was a conspiracy to make the country a sectarian state,” he said.

He added that before approving the bill, Punjab Assembly members did not consult Shia and Sunni scholars.

The MWM leader said the Paigham-i-Pakistan document prepared a while ago by the government with complete support of religious scholars was a key to eliminate all sorts of terrorism in the country.

He demanded that the bill be sent back to the assembly for necessary amendments.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2020