PESHAWAR, Jan 19: The Jamaat-i-Islami on Saturday condemned the banning of religious organisations and their workers and said that attempts to turn the country into a secular state would be fiercely resisted.
Addressing the party’s workers convention in Kohat, JI provincial chief Prof Mohammad Ibrahim claimed that President Musharraf was to force a new system on the people.
He said that Gen Musharraf’s recent steps to rein in the Jihadi elements and impose a ban on religious organisations had confronted the country with internal and external threats.
Ibrahim claimed that the introduction of joint electoral system and a new curriculum in madaris and ban on Jihadi organisations would weaken the ideological foundation of the country. He said that the image of religious institutions was being tarnished.
The JI provincial leader said there was no room for sectarianism in Islam but the issue could have been addressed and resolved by way of negotiations. He said that the Islamic Yakjehti Council could have played a key role in resolving the matter by bringing the two sectarian groups to a negotiating table. He alleged that the government sabotaged all such efforts.
He said the government, by the same token, should also ban regional political parties that fanned regionalism and ethnicity. He said the army should hand over power to an honest leadership that fulfilled the requirements under article 62 and 63 of the constitution.
He said that Gen Musharraf could not impose his decisions on the country.
Meanwhile, the JI provincial secretary general, Sirajul Haq said the party workers would take part in the Jan 27 public meeting in Peshawar and demonstrate that they would defend the ideological frontiers of the country at all costs and get rid of the American agents.
Our Bannu Correspondent adds: Jamaat-i-Islami leaders at a public meeting here on Friday criticized the government decision of holding the next election on basis of joint electorate.
Jamaat’s district Amir Mohammad Rahim told the gathering in front of the Bannu Press Club that the government steps would create unrest among the masses.
Other JI leaders, including Engineer Jehangir and Dr Abdul Qayyum, said that if the president “continued to follow the American dictates,” the people would be compelled to withdraw whatever support they had extended to the government.
The speakers said that Pakistan was created under the separate electorate system, adding that the joint electorate would create problems for the future governments. They said that Islam or the banned organizations were not the cause of unrest in the country.
They said that the successive military governments created a sense of deprivation among the nation. Gen Ayub Khan gave away three rivers to India, Gen Ziaul Haq gave currency to MQM, heroin and Kalashnikov and Gen Musharraf banned Jihadi organizations.
They observed that the government steps would lead to more troubles in the country instead of pacifying the disgruntled masses.
Our Mansehra Correspondent adds: The Jamaat-i-Islami on Friday staged a protest demonstration demanding immediate release of JI chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad.
The Defa-i-Watan march led by JI District Amir Shaukat Ali Khan started at the Jamia Masjid, Abbottabad road, and culminated at the main Chowk.
The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam factions did not participate in the march. Speaking at the Friday congregation, JUI leader and the Khatib of Markazi Jamia Masjid, Mufti Viqarul Haq Osmani, said the country could not afford any agitation.
The JI leaders at their rally criticized the policies of the military regime and demanded release of their leader.