Religious moot today

LAHORE: Pakistan Ulema Council is all set to host third international Message of Islam Conference on Monday (today) at Aiwan-e-Iqbal.

Delegates from all over Islamic World, scholars and notable representatives of religious organisations from different Islamic countries have reached Lahore to attend this conference, said Hafiz Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, Chairman Pakistan Ulema Council.

Talking to the media here on Sunday at Aiwan-e-Iqbal, Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi said ambassadors of Muslim countries, dignitaries from all over Muslim world, religious scholars, clerics and 5,000 Ulema and Mashaikhs from all over Pakistan are attending this conference.

Muslim Ummah should get united and carry out joint struggle to annihilate menace of terrorism, extremism and sectarian violence, said Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi, adding Ulema and religious scholars should devise a unanimous and cohesive mechanism to foil conspiracies of terrorists and extremists.

He underlined that International Message of Islam Conference is being held to devise a unanimous mechanism against terrorism, extremism and sectarian violence and to make an end to prevailing foreign interference in affairs of Muslim countries.

Delegates from more than 12-Muslim countries are visiting Pakistan to attend this conference and key decisions will be made at this conference regarding ‘Tahaffuz-e-Harmain Al-Sharifain’ and to strengthen bilateral relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

The second-part of the conference will be chaired by Secretary Religious Affairs of Saudi Arabia meanwhile representatives of Sheikh-ul-Azhar and Deputy Chief Justice of Palestine will readout message of Palestinian President in the conference. All the arrangements regarding this conference have been finalised, Mehmood Ashrafi said.

Piracha flays Fawad's statement: Jamaat-e-Islami Deputy chief Dr Farid Ahmed Piracha has said that PTI Secretary Information Fawad Chaudhry should examine the position of his own party on the issue of horse-trading instead of criticising JI chief Senator Sirjaul Haq.

Reacting to Fawad Chaudhry's statement, the JI leader said it was still unclear whom Fawad Chaudhry was representing because in the past, Fawad had been representing Pervez Musharraf, PML-Q, PPP and even MQM.

He said the man who had been changing parties so frequently, should not have the moral courage to criticise the JI chief. Dr Farid Piracha, a former MNA, said if the PTI had voted for Sirajul Haq in the previous Senate election, the JI assembly members had voted for PTI candidates three times more and itwas also due to JI’s support that the PTI government could complete its five-year term.

He said the PTI Chairman Imran Khan had himself stated that 20 MPAs of his party had sold themselves in the Senate election and were saleable. On the other hand, he said, nobody could point a finger on any of the JI assembly members.