KARACHI: The Samiul Haq faction of the Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam party (JUI-S) publicly demanded a ban on the Bible, and has set a 30-day deadline for the Supreme Court to take action.
Talking to The Express Tribune, JUI-S leader Maulana Abdur Raoof Farooqi said that his party requests that the Chief Justice of Pakistan take suo motu notice of this issue.
Farooqi claims that the Christian’s holy book “contains blasphemous passages that are a cause of humiliation for Muslims”.
He added that if the CJP does not accept their writ within one month, he will present the issue to an independent tribunal that may comprise of judges from the Federal Shariat Court. Farooqui said he wants the matter to be resolved judicially, so that the Christian community has the right to defend its stance.
Farooqi also said that if this petition was unsuccessful, then “pages from the Bible will be burned all over the world.”
MPA PPP Pervez Rafique, a member of the central organising committee of All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, said that the SC should not take any action of the JUI-S’ request to ban the Bible.
“We totally condemn this demand from their party. It is against religious freedom and violates the right to practice our religion as granted by the UN charter,” said Rafique.
He criticized the JUI-S’ statement as being “very negative”, adding that no one has the authority to ban the Bible.
Rafique reiterated that the SC should not take any action in this case as it is a matter of a religion followed all over the world.
“How can they ban the Bible that is followed throughout the world?” deplored Rafique.
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With due reverence, i dare to ask my all friends who are against the demand to ban the Bible that why they are crying so on this demand? where were they when a cursed priest has burned the Holy Quran? Did they protest on the burning of the Quran as they are doing now?
By the way! before considering Maulana Abdur rauf Faroqi wrong, they should read his complete article published in his own magazine "Mukalamah". Without having proper information of his statement, their cries are the cries of extremists. I have no doubt to say that instead of our religious scholars, our so called Muslims are extremists. May allah show us all the right path. Amin