Religious parties to protest Amplifier Ordinance

LAHORE
THIRTY religious parties and organisations affiliated with Tahaffuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat Mahaz (TNRM), a platform of Barelvi school of thought, have decided to launch a countrywide agitation from February 27, against the alleged victimisation of ulema and prayer leaders in the wake of Peshawar Army School killings, especially their arrests and removal of mosque loud speakers to ban the recitation of Durood and Salam for the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
An All Parties Conference of these parties here Thursday chalked out a protest programme against the misuse of Amplifier Ordinance, banning of historic books of Muslim scholars, terrorist attacks and Muslim rulers’ silence against blasphemy committed by the European media and leaders, which included a countrywide protest on February 27 and holding ulema conventions at district levels in the following week.
To defy the ban on recitation of Durood-o-Salam on loud speakers, the ulema and workers will recite the Durood by assembling outside the mosques all over the country after every Friday prayer, and religious parties will hold an all Pakistan Ulema and Mashaikh convention at Aiwan-e-Iqbal on March 3, said Sahibzada Hamid Raza, president of Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), another platform of Barelvi parties which also participated in the conference, while briefing media at the conclusion.
He said the religious parties had decided to launch a countrywide ‘Protection of Deen’ movement and if their demands were not met a large sit-in would be started outside Punjab Chief Minister’s House on March 7. The meeting constituted ‘Ahle Sunnat Rabita Committee’ comprising heads of various religious parties to contact other political and religious parties.
The conference was chaired by JUP president Pir Ijaz Hashmi while noted leaders in the meeting included Sunni Tehreek president Sarwat Ijaz Qadri, JUP-Noorani secretary general Qari Zawwar Bahadur, TNRM president Razaul Mustafa Naqshbandi, JUP-Niazi secretary general Pir Mehfooz Mashhadi, Tehreek Faizan-e-Aulia leader Pir Habib Irfani, TNRM secretary general Muhammad Ali Naqshbandi, JUP leader Pir Akhtar Rasool Qadri, Saifullah Saifee, Mufti Haseeb Qadri, Dr Mufti Karim Khan, Sardar Muhammad Khan Leghari, Pir Ziaul Mustafa Haqqani, Bashir Ahmad Yusufi, Naseer Ahmad Noorani, Mufti Tasadduq Hussain, Shadab Raza Naqshbandi, Mujahid Abdul Rasool Qadri, Mufti Imran Hanfi, Hafiz Akbar Jatoi, Prof Abdul Aziz Niazi, Hafiz Naeem Azam, Salahuddin Kharal, Ziaul Haq Naqshbandi, Naeem Javed Noori, Hafiz Zahid Razi, Mumtaz Rabbani, Qari Mukhtar Siddiqi, Naeem Tahir Rizvi and others.
Hamid Raza said the conference observed that all parties of Ahle Sunnat School of thought had been standing by army from the very first day against the war on terror and fully supported Operation Zarb-e-Azb. He read out the joint communiqué of the conference which said arrests of religious leaders and removal of mosques’ loud speakers in the garb of Amplifier Ordinance was an enemy agenda which would not be tolerated any more, and no ban on recitation of Durood-o-Salam imposed by any government would never be tolerated. The communiqué warned that no power on earth could ban the recitation of Durood-o-Salam for the Holy Prophet (PBUH), and if those arrested were not released immediately and loud speakers were not returned, agitation movement could also be turned against the government. It warned that misuse of Amplifier Ordinance to such provocative actions was a conspiracy by the secular elements in the country. The communiqué asked the Punjab government to keep watch on the anti-Islam elements in its ranks and make differentiation between patriots and traitors in the country. It said the conference warned that no Muslim could remain silent on the arrests and humiliation of prayer leaders and prayer callers at the hands of police which was roaming in the mosques with their shoes on to make arrests and remove the speakers. It said no book should be banned or publishers harassed without the recommendations of Ulema Board.
The communiqué demanded the government to strive for making a global legislation against blasphemy in the cover of freedom of expression. It demanded that terrorist dens in the country should be wiped out and burning alive of 260 workers in Karachi factory should be tried in military court.
Pir Ijaz Hashmi said those seminaries involved in terrorism should be identified and closed down instead of harassing all the seminaries in this garb which was only creating more tension in the country. He demanded that scope of Operation Zarb-e-Azb should be expanded all over the country.