|
News | Web Resources | Yellow Pages | Free Advertising | Chat
Bangladesh |
Immigration |
E-cards |
Horoscope |
Matrimonial |
|
Change Your Life! |
Pakistani minister asks Islamic groups to shun militant image |
|
News
|
|
|
January 14, 2001
ISLAMABAD-- (AP) - The army government appealed to Pakistan's Islamic parties Saturday to cast aside their militant image, stop displaying weapons, resolve their differences and work to promote harmony among rival Muslim groups. Islamic groups should put a quick end to their brazen show of weapons and collecting donations to wage jehad, or holy war, in the disputed region of Kashmir, Interior Minister and retired army general Moinuddin Haider told representatives of 18 religious parties in the federal capital Islamabad. The daylong meeting of religious parties was called by the army-led government to try to curb the relentless bloodletting among rival Muslim groups that has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people in recent years. It was also called to try to improve the country's deteriorating image as a state that promotes Islamic militancy. The latest round of sectarian violence occurred one week ago in remote northwestern Pakistan when 10 people died in bitter feuding between rival Shiite and Sunni Muslim groups. Most of Pakistan's 140 million people are Sunni Muslims who have no quarrel with their Shiite brethren. However, heavily armed and extremely violent groups belonging to both sects have emerged in recent years. The majority of the victims have been Shiite Muslims. The militant Islamic image has given Pakistan a bad name, said Haider. The image problem is not only with the western countries but Haider said ambassadors of Islamic countries have expressed concern that Islamic religious schools in Pakistan are fanning extremism and religious fanaticism. "There is nothing to gain by waving guns against America," said Haider. If the Islamic parties want to collect donations, they should do it for humanitarian causes, not for the purpose of militancy, he said. The religious leaders disagreed. Sami-ul Haq, the leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, warned the government not to crack down on religious schools that preach militancy saying Islamic clerics will not tolerate it. Many of the religious leaders harbor strong anti-American sentiments and accuse the United States of waging a propaganda campaign against Islam. "We will not accept the American hegemony ... Religious parties are maintaining the country's Islamic image," said Haq. Without holy warriors there will be no one to fight for Kashmir's liberation from India, he said. More than a dozen Islamic militant groups, headquartered in Pakistan, have been waging a bloody secessionist war in Indian-ruled Kashmir for the last 11 years. They are demanding its merger with Islamic Pakistan or independence. The guerrilla groups openly collect donations and recruit volunteers from Pakistan to wage what they call a jehad or holy war against Indian troops in the Himalayan region of Kashmir. Both Pakistan and India hold parts of Kashmir and both claim the region in its entirety. Since British rule of the subcontinent ended in 1947, the two neighbors have fought two wars over Kashmir. While Pakistan is morally and politically behind the insurgency in Indian-ruled Kashmir Haider said Pakistan cannot tolerate the display of weapons by militants in commando dress. "This is defaming Pakistan and portrays a negative image of the country," he said. "Even Pakistanis get afraid when they see all the weapons being displayed." Haider also criticized religious violence between Sunni Muslim and Shiite Muslim extremist groups, saying that their fighting violates the tenets of Islam. "For several years, places of worship are being attacked. One sect is calling another infidel," he said. "This is not Islam." |