Azm-e-Istehkam continuation of national action plan: Tahir Ashrafi

GUJRANWALA: Allama Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, Advisor to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, stated that Azam-e-Istehkam is a continuation of the National Action Plan, not an operation and that the Prime Minister has called for an All Parties Conference to hear their stance, emphasizing the necessity of law and order for economic stability.

He said, “Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said in the National Assembly that in certain areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), police stations close at 8 pm and members of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) come there.” Ashrafi raised the question of what the solution should be if the situation is like this.

Talking to the media after a meeting with divisional and district administration for peace in Muharram, Allama Asharfi said that 9th May is an attack on the state, it has been a year and a half without justice.

He expressed his opinion that military courts are better than our judicial system, citing a case in Jhelum that took 20 years to be decided, only to find out that the accused had been sentenced to death before the decision was made.

He said that the war on terrorism was forced upon the country and that 90,000 martyrs sacrificed their lives for peace. He also referred to the incident of burning Sri Lankans in Sialkot which had not been confirmed by scholars, and stressed that if an individual commits a crime, they should be punished by the court and not by the public. He emphasized the need to refrain from taking justice into our own hands.

Allama Asharfi called for swift decisions on blasphemy cases, urging the courts to punish guilty individuals and release innocent ones.

Peace is necessary in Pakistan, especially during Muharram al-Haram, the media should refrain from fake news and police should take action against those who spread communalism, he concluded.