Sharif’s statement on Ahmadis angers clerics

Pakistan Punjab

Sharif’s statement on Ahmadis angers clerics

June 07, 2010

Wafaqul Madaris al Arabia asks PML-N chief to retract his statement

ISLAMABAD: Top leaders of an organisation representing Deobandi madrassas across the country have reprimanded PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif for calling members of the Ahmadiyya community as “brothers” of Muslims.

“Sharif should be ashamed of calling them brothers of Muslims,” said a statement issued by the Wafaqul Madaris al Arabia (WMA).

Sharif said in Lahore on Saturday that Ahmadis were as important citizens of Pakistan as people from other religions and called them an asset.

He made the statement to express solidarity with the Ahmadiyya community following last month’s two synchronised attacks on their places of worship in Lahore which claimed more than 80 lives with many more injured.

In a statement issued here on Sunday, leaders of the Wafaqul Madaris al Arabia – an umbrella organisation of more than 12,000 Deobandi madrassas – called Ahmadis “traitors”.

WMA leaders Maulana Salimullah Khan and Qari Hafeez Jahalindri urged Sharif to retract his statement and advised him not to “defy religion for petty political gains.”

The statement termed the Ahmadis as “infidels” and said that they could not be brothers of Muslims until they convert to Islam again.

Ahmadis were declared a minority under the 1973 constitution – a move that some people believe intensified hatred against Ahmadis.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 7th, 2010.

URL: http://tribune.com.pk/story/19379/shari...n-ahmadis-angers-clerics/

Counter-terrorism flaws need to be removed: Sharif

Pakistan Punjab

Counter-terrorism flaws need to be removed: Sharif

By Agencies

June 06, 2010

PML-N chief’s views on attack come a day after Punjab govt’s apathetic attitude

LAHORE: Emphasising that terrorists have neither religion nor state, chief of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Nawaz Sharif said that flaws in the counter-terrorism strategy need to be removed in order for it to be effective.

Giving his views over a week after terrorists killed over 80 people in an attack on two Ahmadi places of worship in the city, Sharif said “Terrorists have neither religion nor state. The nation and its institutions are united in the war against terrorism. Wars against terrorism are fought by the people, not governments.”

He further said that the Ahmadis were also citizens of Pakistan. “Ahmadis are our brothers and sisters,” he said.

Sharif’s views on the attack came a day after Ahmadis expressed dismay over the Punjab government’s apathetic attitude towards protecting marginalised sections of society.

According to reports, one of the injured terrorists was allowed to use his cell phone in hospital and authorities even arranged a meeting between him and his family members.

The Ahmadis have severely criticised the provincial government for failing to get tough with the arrested militants.

The government and the people have to join hands to fight against terrorism, Sharif added. He urged the chief minister of Punjab to eliminate terrorism from the province as a matter of priority.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 6th, 2010.

URL: http://tribune.com.pk/story/19177/counter-terroris...e-removed-sharif/