QUETTA, Dec 20: Tehrik-i-Jafaria Pakistan Chief Allama Sajid Ali Naqvi has said that the country is passing through difficult times and if appropriate steps are not taken then the crisis will put the nation’s integrity at stake.

Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, he said that there was no conflict between Sunni and Shia people but some elements wanted to pit the two communities against each other to achieve their ulterior motives.

Allama Naqvi said he had told the recent national security conference that the country could overcome the problems through unity among its people.

He said the nation was confronted with manifold issues but some groups had hatched a conspiracy to promote sectarianism to divide the people.

He said that target killings in Quetta and other parts of the country were part of the conspiracy but the government, he alleged, was reluctant to punish the perpetuators of these crimes.

He said it was responsibility of the government to apprehend terrorists and take stern action against them.