KARACHI, Feb 20: The Ulema Convention, held here on Monday under the auspices of Jamiat Ittehadul Ulema Pakistan, has pledged that the ongoing campaign of Tahafuz Namoos-i-Mustafa would be continued until restoration and implementation of the 1973 constitution as it was the outcome of ulema’s unity.

It noted that the massive protest by Muslims around the world against the publication of blasphemous sketches by European press had proved that they were prepared to offer any sacrifice but would not tolerate any disrespect to their holy prophet, Hazrat Mohammad (PBUH).

The convention, held at the Jamaat-i-Islami’s Karachi office, Idara Noor-i-Haq, deplored the ban on people’s free movement in the federal capital, and warned that the rulers had prohibited faithful from entering Islamabad, and people would respond to the ban by stopping the rulers from entering their localities.

Flaying the police action against protesters in Islamabad, JIUP President Maulana Abdul Malik, who was the chief guest, said that instead of taking an appropriate action against perpetrators of blasphemy, the government had resorted to suppressing the faithful.

He claimed that the personnel of the law-enforcement agencies had themselves ransacking and burning properties in Islamabad while taking action against protesters. He said that ulema of all sects were united under the JIUP and would meet in Peshawar on March 15 to chalk out a joint strategy viz-a-viz madressahs. “Since coming to power, Gen Musharraf had been striving to divert the country from its right path, i.e. Makkah and Medina, to Washington,” he deplored.

Dr Malik (MNA) said that not only Pakistan, but all Muslim countries should effectively boycott the products from the countries where newspapers had carried the blasphemous sketches. He said all Muslim states should sever ties with these countries.

Senator Prof Ghafoor Ahmad, in his presidential remarks, said ulema were most important part of a Muslim society, but the government was constantly targeting this most respectable segment, along with the religious seminaries and their students.

Dr Mairajul Huda Siddiqui strongly condemned the ban on anti-blasphemy rallies in Islamabad, and wondered that holding of such rallies was allowed even in London and New York, but not in Islamabad.

Allama Hasan Turabi, expressing concern over inaction on the part of the OIC, said that except some true representatives of Ummah, those sitting in the OIC were on the payroll of the United States.

Mufti Usmanyar Khan said that anti-Islam forces were bent upon transforming Pakistan into a secular state. He said that masses in Pakistan, under the leadership of ulema, would bravely face the challenge. They would not also tolerate any sort of blasphemy against their religion and holy prophets, he added.

Allama Mirza Yusuf Hussain said that Muslim rulers’ conscience had succumbed to the West’s money and, therefore, ulema should come out with a joint strategy to save the Muslim states from falling into the West’s trap.

Maulana Abdul Rauf, Maulana Abdul Rehman Rehmani, Maulana Mukhtar Ahmad, Qari Abdul Mannan Anwar, Qazi Ahmad Noorani, Maulana Khan Mohammad Rabbani, Maulana Kashif and Shaikh Rafique Ahmad were among others who addressed the convention.