LAHORE, Feb 8: Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi said here on Tuesday that ulema should play an effective role in discouraging the elements out to disturb the atmosphere of unity and fraternity in society.

He was talking to members of the provincial Ittehad Bainul Muslimeen at the Civil Secretariat. A large number of ulema belonging to different schools of thought attended the meeting.

The chief minister said the government had decided to strictly deal with elements involved in provocative activities during Muharram and no leniency would be shown to the misuse of loudspeakers or instigating speeches.

He directed the administration to keep a vigilant eye on such elements which were publishing sectarian literature. Besides the distributors or sellers of the instigating material stern action would also be taken against its publishers.

The chief minister said Islam was a religion of tolerance and forbearance which did not allow any single individual or a group to enforce its own ideology upon others.

"Islam is being presented as an extremist religion at the international level and we would have to dispel this impression through our behaviour," he said.

He urged ulema to support the government in identifying the anti-social elements, directing all provincial ministers, Nazims and officials to jointly ensure peace during Muharram.

Law Minister Raja Basharat said the government accorded full importance to the decisions by the committee because they were aimed at promoting national unity and solidarity.

He said the district governments would provide metal detectors for mosques and imambargahs. These would be bought by the citizen community boards.

Auqaf Minister Sahibzada Syed Saeedul Hassan Shah said the people must prove through their deeds and action that they were the followers of a religion of peace.

Chief Minister's Adviser Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi said the government was utilizing all resources to ensure law and order during Muharram.