Top religious leadership announces to launch a movement against Punjab govt

Lahore: Top religious leadership of the country here on Tuesday asked the Punjab government to withdraw the controversial Women Protection Law by March 27 failing which the religious forces would launch a joint movement against the anti-Shariah policies of the rulers.

Heads of all religious parties besides leading Ulema from all schools of thought in the country gathered at Mansoora, strongly condemned different steps of  the present rulers against the Shariah, the constitution and the Pakistan ideology. They maintained that all official announcements about a liberal, secular Pakistan and against Islamic injunctions were a revolt against the constitution and betrayal of the founding fathers of the country.

Through a joint declaration, the moot made it clear that the religious leadership stood united for safeguarding the Namoos e Risalat and the Muslim Family system and would foil all conspiracies to make the country a secular, liberal state.

Presided over by the Ameer, Jamaat e Islami, Pakistan, Senator Sirajul Haq, the moot was attended by JUI(F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Jamaat al Da’wa chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, JUI(S) chief Maulana Samiul Haq, JUP president Sahibzada Abul Khair Zubair, Prof, Sajid Mir, Allama Awais Noorani, Hafiz Hussain Ahmad, Majlis e Wahdat al Muslimeen leader Allama Ameen Shahedi, and others.

The declaration pronounced the love of the Holy Prophet as a valuable asset of the Ummah. It   said the government had tried to practically negate the Namoos e Risalat Law by executing Ghazi Mumtaz Qadri, only to please the enemies of Islam and a small secular lobby  in the country. It said that despite black out by the government and the media, a historic gathering at Mumtaz Qadri’s funeral was a manifestation that the masses had totally rejected the government stance.

The moot demanded of the government to ensure total implementation of the constitutional and legal requirements of the Namoos e Risalat Act and expedite the decisions of the all cases of blasphemy.

In his address, Sirajul Haq said that the entire responsibility of the present deplorable affairs of the Muslim Ummah lay with the rulers who were slaves of the US and western powers.  He said that the west had unleashed a cultural attack on the Muslim world.

He said the Women Protection Law was an attack on the Muslim family system and the rulers had been tasked to break the family system.

He said that the martyrdom of Mumtaz Qadri, the Women Protection law and the ban on the Tableeghi Jamaat were international agenda. In the country established in the name of Islam, there was open talk of free sex and use of liquor. The country was facing financial moral, and ideological  corruption. The rulers were keen to befriend India under foreign pressure and there were indications of recognizing Israel.

He said under these circumstances, it was the duty of the religious leadership to come to the fore and protect the Islamic ideological character of the country.

Maulana Fazlur Rahman, in his address, said that being a government ally did not mean accepting all government steps. He said the government was taking anti-Islam and anti Shariah steps under foreign pressure.

He suggested the formation of a team at federal level for law making. He said that a bill similar to the one passed by the Punjab Assembly had been passed in South Africa in 1998 and also in India in 2005. He said that the Bill had been passed in haste under world agenda and had been given a beautiful title to befool the masses.

He said the government had stopped the media from the coverage of the Bill nor any one was given a chance to go through it. On the other hand, he said, when the MMA government in Khyber P had passed the Hisba Bill to stop violence and other un-Islamic practices of the era of Ignorance, the centre had nullified it by force. On the other hand, he said, the Ulema were being forced to keep silent on the Women Protection Law.

Maulana Samiul Haq said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s offer for talks to the Ulema was a farce aiming at weakening the movement against the government. He said Nawaz Sharif had always adopted Hippocratic attitude.

Samiul Haq further disclosed that the Salman Taseer’s family had pardoned Mumtaz Qadri in return for the release if Shahbaz Taseer but the government had executed Mumtaz Qadri in haste after this development.

Al Dawa chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed said that Islam’s enemies were afraid of a nuclear Pakistan and wanted to destabilize her. The enemy wanted the country to become a secular, liberal state. He however said that if the religious forces stood united, the masses would rally around them against the unholy designs of the rulers.

Majlis e Wahdatul Muslimeen chief Allama Ameen Shahedi,  said that the ministers of the Muslim states were appointed on the dictation of the colonial powers. He said that the Women Protection Law was an attempt to make the women folk a saleable commodity.