PUC condemns the attack on a church in Peshawar

Lahore: Pakistan Ulema Council [PUC] has  strongly condemned the attack on a church in Peshawar and is standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Christian community in this time of sorrow. Such attacks have nothing to do with Islam or Pakistan.

This was stated by PUC Central Chairman Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi and Central Secretary General Sahibzada Zahid Mahmood Qasmi during their conversations with Christian leaders throughout the country. They said that Prophet Muhammad [PBUH] had provided protection to the lives and properties of non-Muslims living in a Muslim state, and we are bound to follow his commandments. “Powers that want confrontation between different religions try to exploit such incidents to their advantage,” they added.

They further said that Pakistan belonged to all of us and it was the responsibility of Muslims to provide protection to non-Muslims living here. “The attack in Peshawar was a matter of shame for the entire nation and we believe that the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa showed extreme negligence. It should resign over this incident,” they said.

The said that Muslims are also not safe in Pakistan, but this should not be used as a justification to tolerate attacks on non-Muslims. They demanded the chief justice of Pakistan to immediately take somoto notice of the Peshawar incident and conduct hearings to find out the truth behind this attack. They said that a delegation of the PUC had been sent to Peshawar to express solidarity with the Christian community over this incident.

PUC Central Chairman Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi said that if the government was negotiating with the Taliban, then the nation should be informed of the terms of these negotiations. “There has been a rise in terrorist attacks ever since the government announced to negotiate with the Taliban. The government should tell the nation what is the reason for this. If negotiations are taking place, then why are they being kept secret? The irony is that the lives of Pakistanis are being sacrificed every day but we are talking of negotiations,” he added.

He said that the Peshawar attack was a very shameful incident which had saddened not only the people of Pakistan but also the entire Muslim Ummah.