CII demands special court to try Jaranwala culprits

Ayaz calls for reconsidering use of term ‘minorities’

ISLAMABAD:

Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) Chairman Dr Qibla Ayaz reiterated on Wednesday the CII’s demand for the establishment of special courts to expeditiously hear cases related to crimes like the Jaranwala incident and punish the perpetrators.

Addressing a press conference after the 234th special session of the CII, titled ‘Interfaith Harmony: State and Society’s Responsibilities’, he urged the public not to take the law into their own hands, because it would be contrary to the Quran, Sunnah, the Constitution and the established national norms.

Dr Qibla Ayaz emphasised the fundamental principle that "all religions inherently teach human respect and honour". Therefore, he said, followers of all faiths should practice these values in their religious teachings.

He denounced any form of hate, violence, or extremism in the name of religion. “Such actions are a departure from religious teachings and often serve political or worldly interests,” he said, urging leaders of all faiths to actively discourage such ideologies.

Dr Ayaz also urged religious leaders to collaborate in promoting respect for Prophet Muhammad Peace Be Upon Him, all other honoured prophets, and sacred religious sites. He called for swift justice and visible penalties on individuals involved in incidents like Jaranwala to deter future occurrences.

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He reiterated the CII demand for the establishment of special courts to expeditiously hear cases related to such crimes and punish the perpetrators. He urged the public not to take the law into their own hands, as doing so was contrary to the Quran, Sunnah, the Constitution, and established national norms.

Responding to query, Dr Ayaz said that the council was planning to go beyond curricula from primary to university levels and preparing recommendations in bid to bring significant changes in the overall education sector.

He emphasised the need for reconsidering the term 'minority' and instead highlighted the religious identity of individuals in the light of changing global demographics and increased migration by practitioners of different religions.

Seconding the proposal, Minister of State Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani said that the term 'minority' expressed “narrow-mindedness”. Therefore, he suggested the term “equal-rights citizens” for them.

The meeting was attended by Pir Abul Hasan Muhammad Shah, Dr Abdul Ghafoor Rashid, Pir Khalid Sultan, Allama Hussain Akbar, Syed Ziaullah Bukhari, Pirzada Junaid Amin, Mufti Muhammad Zubair, Justice Zafar Iqbal, Justice Altaf Ibrahim, Allah Bakhsh Kalyar, Jalaluddin Advocate, and Farida Rahim.
Leaders of other religions, including Bishop Samuel Azariah, Father Sylvester Joseph, Sohail Habel, Christopher Sherif, Pritam Das, Asfandyar Bhandara, Ramesh Singh Arora, Prof Mehrdad, and Tariq Mehmood Ghauri also attended the meeting.