Pakistan was coerced into becoming a US ally in the war against terror by a military dictator, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said on Sunday.
Speaking at the Milli Yakjehti Council-sponsored International Conference on Muslim Unity, Fazl said, “He brought this war to Pakistan. It has failed to achieve its objectives of ending terrorism.”
Although the JUI-F chief did not take any names he appeared to be referring to former president General Pervez Musharraf.
Terrorism has grown since the US decided to wage war on al Qaeda and alleged that its members were present in Afghanistan, according to the JUI-F leader.
“Eleven years after Afghanistan was attacked, can the US say it has achieved its objectives?” asked the JUI-F chief.
“Instead, the menace of terrorism has gone on to plague the whole region.”
Criticising democratic forces in Pakistan for failing to implement the resolutions of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CCI), Fazl said it was their responsibility to bring Shariah to the country.
The present situation in the country demands that religious parties participate in the upcoming elections and not boycott them, Fazl said.
MYC President Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the former amir of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), provoked a volley of slogans from his supporters but he stopped them, saying “I will give you a single slogan that you should raise from now on.”
Qazi Hussain pointed out that “these different slogans have created all the problems that we are facing today.”
He called for the Muslim world to unite and to leave behind sectarian and ethnic differences. He thanked all religious leaders, particularly Shia leaders, for their participation.
Also speaking at the conference, Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed said that the Muslim world would have to unite to rise against anti-Islam elements, which could not be done solely through resolutions.
“Look at what is happening to Muslims in Kashmir, Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq,” Saeed said. Today the biggest problem that Muslims face is ‘slavery’ not poverty, he said. “Only a united front against anti-Islam forces can free Muslims of this slavery.”
Referring to a controversial anti-Islam movie that enraged the Muslim world recently, he said the West was openly humiliating ‘our religion and our Holy Prophet (pbuh)’ and their leaders were not willing to take action against it.
The US president, addressing the UN General Assembly recently, openly refused to remove the video from social media, said an enraged Saeed.
In a seven-point declaration issued at the end, the MYC conference condemned terrorist activities in the name of religion, saying they were not justified.
They agreed on implementing CCI resolutions and vowed “to protect the honour of the Prophet (pbuh) at every cost and would not allow any amendments in blasphemy laws.”
Delegates from different countries including Afghanistan, Iran, and Tajikistan also participated in the conference.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 12th, 2012.
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