JUI-F vows to counter secular Pakistan plot

Says India ‘should come to its senses’ for continuous cease-fire violations

QUETTA: Maulana Ghafoor Haideri, secretary general of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam – Fazal (JUI-F), has promised to counter a plot by Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri to make Pakistan a secular country which would be resisted by the JUI-F.

The party leader went on to say that he was worried that the two leaders might have committed blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) in their speeches.

“Imran Khan compares himself with Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) and his followers with the companions of the Prophet, while Tahirul Qadri said the blasphemy law is a human rights violation,” Haideri told the reporters during a news conference at JUI-F Secretariat Quetta. He said the religious cleric should listen to their speeches and identify if they committed any blasphemy.

The JUI-F has announced it will test its political strength on October 23 in Quetta during the Mufti Mehmood conference. “The conference is being held not only to pay homage to the struggle of (JUI founding member) Mufti Mehmood but also to show the political power like other parties are showing in Punjab and Sindh,” Haideri said.

He claimed that Qadri also wants to change the definition of a Muslim in the constitution of 73, which was made in 74 through an amendment, where the Qadianis were declared as non-Muslims.

Lamenting India’s ceasefire violations at the LoC and the recent shelling, he said anti-Pakistanism is in the basic nature of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and added that India “should come to its senses” as in any attempt of aggression, the entire nation would be with the Pak-army.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 15^th, 2014.