ISLAMABAD: Only a day after his removal as head of the Ruet-i-Hilal Com­­mittee, Mufti Munee­bur Rehman on Thursday announced laun­ching of a campaign against the government under aegis of the newly-established Tehreek Tahaffuz-i-Masajid-o-Madaris over a legislation related to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that was passed in a joint sitting of the parliament in September.

The announcement was made by Mufti Muneeb himself at a conference that had been organised by the new group. Ulema belonging to various seminaries of the Deobandi and Ahl-i-Hadees schools of thought attended the conference.

At the conference it was announced that implementation of the Islamabad Capital Territory Waqf Properties Bill 2020, which was adopted by the parliament amid protests by opposition parties, would be resisted.

The speakers declared that the law had been imposed under a conspiracy against Islamic institutions, in the garb of registration of religious seminaries.

Mufti Muneeb said the act had been passed by the parliament under pressure from the FATF. “Religious restrictions are not accepted in an Islamic republic like Pakistan and if authorities try to impose them, we will resist them,” he said.

Secretary General of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F Mau­­lana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri said clerics in the parliament were the “first line of defence against any law that was contrary to Islam. He said the prime minister should take another U-turn and withdraw the act.

Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2021