ISLAMABAD: Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah has denounced attempts to “misconstrue” his statements regarding the word Muhajir (migrant).

In a statement issued late on Saturday night, the PPP leader said that interpreting his statement on migrants from India as an insult to the Muhajireen to Madina was highly “inappropriate”.

The statement, apparently addressed to the MQM leaders who had earlier levelled accusations of blasphemy against the opposition leader at a press conference, termed these attacks “regrettable”.

Mr Shah also pointed out that Mr Altaf Hussain and other leaders of the MQM had often used the terms “old Sindhi” and “new Sindhi”. “If this is about Ansar and Muhajireen, then I am also a Muhajir. No Muslim can ever imagine saying anything like this,” he said, warning that political matters should not be given a religious spin for the sake of minor gains.

The opposition leader called upon religious leaders to take a “serious notice” of such “fatwa-baazi”.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2014