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Released by Qamar Haider Zaidi the Spokesman of the TNFJ; Translated by Wajih Kazmi

ISLAMABAD, August, 17:  A representative delegation of the Tehreek e Nifaz e Fiqah Jafariya led by the Secretary General Syed Shujaat Ali Bukhari met with the Federal Interior Minister in Islamabad on Wednesday. Federal Minister for religious affairs was also present on the occasion. The Additional Secretary General of TNFJ Col (r ) Syed Sakhawat Hussain Kazmi, Central Secretary Information Allama Syed Qamar Haider Zaidi, Speaker Syed Bu Ali Mehdi, District President Islamabad Allama Basharat Hussain Immami, Provincial president for Punjab Allama Hussain Muqaddasi and Additional Secretary Information Syed Shahab Rizwi were part of the delegation. According to the handout issued from the TNFJ’s office, the delegation mentioned that evil powers have been conspiring against Pakistan since its inception and trying to disintegrate the nation on provincial, sectarian, and linguistic basis while the prime objective of the creation of Tehreek e Nifaz e Fiqah Jafariya was to thwart this conspiracy while representing the Shia school of thought. Therefore, Tehreek e Nifaz e Fiqah Jafariya raised voice for the rights of the Shias in a positive manner to eliminate the impression that Pakistan is a sectarian state. In this course, the restoration of democracy and signing of 21 May 1985 Moosavi-Junejo agreement was achieved which not only announced lifting of the ban from religious processions but also guaranteed to accept and meet the demands of the Shia school of thought. Today, the religious processions all over Pakistan are brought out in accordance with the same agreement however; significant progress has not been made on other issues. Shujaat Bukhari said that the prime focus of Tehreek e Nifaz e Fiqah Jafariya’s struggle has been to prevent Pakistan from becoming a battlefield of proxy wars. Realizing the same threat, Quaid e Millat e Jafariya Agha Syed Hamid Ali Shah Moosavi had demanded to impose ban on foreign funding of the religious organizations in 1980 which if acted upon, would have saved Pakistan from falling prey to the menace of terrorism. He stressed upon the fact that Tehreek e Nifaz e Fiqah Jafariya condemns the electoral politics sectarian or linguistic basis and considers it as a national suicide however, we consider casting votes as a national responsibility and it must be casted in favor of the rightful deserving candidates and parties. He said that although the fundamental demands of Tehreek e Nifaz e Fiqah Jafariya are mentioned in the Moosavi-Junejo agreement however, it is important to bring the recently produced issues to the government’s notice. He said that formation of the National Action Plan was a historic step which is similar to the Moosavi Peace Formula presented in the Supreme Court of Pakistan during 1997 however, the dilemma is that it could not be acted upon completely because of the differences between the local administration and the central leadership. Therefore, our foremost demand is to ensure action on all points of the National Action Plan. The only resolution of the incidents like bomb blast in Quetta, target killing in D.I.Khan resides in acting upon the National Action Plan. He expressed concerns on the fact that the proscribed oragnizations have been freely participating in Elections and holding rallies and congregations which is a big question martk? Banned organizations operating with old or new names must be stopped, the facilitators of the terrorists must be clutched as otherwise, the fruits of all anti-terrorism operations including the Zarb e Azab, Raddul fasaad, and Operation Khyber-4 will be lost. Muharram ul Haram is arriving and the elements belonging to the proscribed organizations often succeed in becoming members of the peace committees at different places which extends them a license for their evil actions, while it happens because the local administration is often unaware of even the names of the proscribed organizations. Therefore, the lists of proscribed organizations must be shared till the local police stations level while members of proscribed organizations must not be allowed to enter in the peace committees. Local administration of some of the areas mistakenly booked innocent people in the Schedule-IV. As TNFJ is not a proscribed organization therefore, the names of its members booked in the Schedule-IV must be removed from the lists. Ashura incident of Raja Bazar Rawalpindi was a heinous conspiracy to instigate unrest in Pakistan which could not succeed due to the strong bond between Shia and Sunnis. Cases made against the innocent people who were booked in this case as fill in the blanks must be ended and the real culprits must be clutched. The Shia school of thought is deprived of its due ideological representation in most of the government institutions made for the Islamization which also include the Islamic Ideology Council, Royat e Hilaal Committee therefore, utilizing these institutions for the sake of political bargains must be stopped and their command must be rotated among all schools of thought including the Shia school of thought to give a strong message of Pakistan’s ideological strength and internal harmony goes to the world. The secretary General of TNFJ said that Tehreek e Nifaz e Fiqah Jafariya opposes imposition of the ideologies of one sect over other and demand that Hanafi and Jafari sects who equally participated in the foundation of Pakistan must be given equal rights. Majalis e Aza and religious processions in connection with the sacrifice of the grandson of the holy Prophet, Imam Hussain (A.S) are consistently held from 1st of Muharram ul Haram to 8th of Rabi ul Awal. On this occasion, the interior ministry sets up control rooms and appoints coordinating officers on the demand of TNFJ, to safeguard against any untoward incident therefore, announcement of these control rooms must be promptly made while these rooms must be instructed to stay connected with Tehreek e Nifaz e Fiqah Jafariya to ensure peace through effective coordination and the conspiracies of anti-peace forces are thwarted. Similarly, the presence of responsible officers must also be ensured in these control rooms. There is a custom of announcing ban on Zakireen and Ulamas before the start of Muharram ul Haram and the list includes the deceased Ulama and Zakireen. He demanded not to impose ban on peaceful Zakireen who address Majalis e Aza as these bans create problems for the organizers of the Majalis e Aza and the religious customs and traditions while also hurt Zakireen and Ulama economically. He said that the Ulama Board formed in Punjab includes elements which cannot be called as representatives of the schools of thought. The unjust decision of this board are being imposed on Azadars and Zakireen which are damaging government’s reputation among the people and therefore, must be addressed immediately. The leader of the delegation also notified about the problems faced by the Zaireen (pilgrims) and mentioned that most of the Zaireen traveling for the pilgrimage of the shrines of Aimma Tahireen (A.S) and other religious personalities belong to poor families however, they are kept at Quetta Taaftan Border for several weeks which costs them badly and often leaves them starving. These problems can be resolved appropriately through better coordination as thousands of Zaireen are blocked at the Quetta-Taaftan border even at this point of time which must be resolved immediately. Furthermore, the Quetta-Zahidan Rail service must also be started. TNFJ reminded that Auliya Allah played an unmatchable role in spreading Islam in the subcontinent. From Abdulla Shah Ghazi, Sakhi Laal Shahbaz Qalandar, Shah Abdul Lateef Bhitaai to Sakhi Sarwar Shah Zain Badshah are among the ancestors of Agha Syed Hamid Ali Shah Moosavi. Since a suicide attack during the speech of Quaid e Millat e Jafariya Agha Syed Hamid Ali Shah Moosavi at the shrine of Hazrat Bari Imam during 2005, the Urs and Azadari is stopped at the shrine which is a matter of grace concern and therefore, it is demanded that the Urs and Azadari on the shrine must be resumed to practically thwart the aims and objectives of terrorists, TNFJ will fully cooperate in this regard. The delegation of TNFJ regretted that importing foreign agents continues in Pakistan therefore, the foreign funding of all religious organizations and institutions must be banned, while religious leaders must also be held accountable through their financial audits. Such an accountability will expose many conspiracies and reveal the elements behind them. TNFJ volunteers to such accountability before anyone else. Shujaat Bukhari further notified that social media has been playing an evil role in spreading hatred therefore, the laws of Cyber crimes must be strengthened and action on these laws must be ensured. Calling any Muslim as a Non-Muslim must be a punishable offense while terrorists must not be associated with any sect or religion. Terrroists and evil doers must be clutched fearlessly. The then interior minster had formed a 5 member committee for the resolution of problems faced by the Shia school of thought in 2013 comprising of the members from TNFJ and the Interior ministry, this committee must be revived so that mutual coordination could be ensured and steps could be taken in favor of the national interest. TNFJ delegation reminded that the beloved motherland Pakistan was founded on the name of Islam and is the result of struggle by all established schools of thought. The delegation pledged to continue efforts for the protection of the respect and dignity of Pakistan in accordance with the sayings of Hakeem ul Ummat Allama Muhammad Iqbal and Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah while every citizen must fully support our security forces and armed forces in their fight against terrorism and we will never let Pakistan deviate from its founding ideology i.e. the The Two-Nation theory. The federal interior Minster Ahsan Iqbal and the Federal Minister for religious affairs Sardar Muhammad Yousaf carefully listened to the central delegation of TNFJ and assured of prompt action on the demands.

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