Sialkot tragedy: CII vows to stop violent environment

Chairman Ayaz says members took concrete steps to protect Muslims in Sri Lanka from possible danger

ISLAMABAD:

Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) Chairman Dr Qibla Ayaz has claimed that the CII has taken concrete steps to protect Muslims in Sri Lanka from possible danger after the Sialkot tragedy, vowing that continuous work will be done to stop the violent environment.

On December 3, a Sri Lankan national, Priyantha Kumara, who worked as a factory manager in Sialkot, was brutally lynched and his body was set on fire by a mob on the allegations of blasphemy.

The nation was shell-shocked and disgusted. The sickening incident outraged the nation as the civil and military leaders denounced it as “horrific”, “shameful” and “extra-judicial vigilantism”.

Addressing a news conference after an extraordinary meeting of the CII with Special Representative to the Prime Minister on Religious Harmony Hafiz Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, Mufti Zubair and other members, Ayaz said that the council takes incidents like Sialkot tragedy very seriously.

The council, in a statement, demanded that the accused involved in the Sialkot tragedy be punished immediately.

“Today's meeting was special regarding Sialkot tragedy as experts were called in this meeting,” the CII chairman said, adding that DPO Omar Saeed Malik also briefed the council.

Immediately after the Sialkot tragedy, he said, CII members went to the Sri Lankan embassy to express solidarity.

“The threat posed to Muslims in Sri Lanka was averted by the nation's response,” Ayaz said. “Recommendations will be made as soon as possible to prevent such incidents.”

In his address, Ashrafi said that the state was very clear that it would not tolerate incidents like the Sialkot tragedy.

“The state has not bowed before the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan but has made a clear decision to punish the killers of the policemen.”

Talks were held with the Afghan Taliban by the US as well as by PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Ashrafi said.

Read Won’t let incidents like Sialkot happen again: PM

Sharif held talks with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan through late Maulana Samiul Haq, he said, adding that Zardari held talks with them in Swat. “The interior minister can better explain the current state of the negotiations,” he added.

Mufti Zubair said the CII’s seriousness could be gauged by the fact that it sat with experts all day today.

Earlier, the 226th special meeting of the CII and a joint declaration of the think tank with experts was issued according to which Prime Minister Imran Khan has done a great job by giving rewards to Malik Adnan and discussions will continue with experts to prevent incidents like the Sialkot one in the future.

“It is more important to follow the law than to make it,” the declaration said, adding that the council believed there was room for improvement in the current judicial system and there was a lot of content on social media that was promoting violence.

It noted that the country's political and religious leadership reacted well to the Sialkot tragedy as Pakistan's image has turned positive with its good public response.

The people of Sri Lanka, the Ulema and the government have expressed satisfaction with the good response of the people of Pakistan.

The meeting has appealed to the people to refrain from taking the law into their own hands.

According to the declaration, taking the law into one's own hands is against Islam, law and ethics.

Ayaz said the CII declaration should be debated in parliament.

The CII expressed gratitude for holding the Organization of Islamic Cooperation meeting in Islamabad.