Leaders of Islamist parties are not happy with the apology extended by Pope Benedict for his recent remarks against Islam and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). They said that a man of his stature should have avoided making such comments in the first place. “However, it is good to hear that he has realized he hurt religious sentiments of Muslims and our emotional attachment with the Prophet (PBUH),” remarked Syed Munawwar Hasan, secretary general of the Jamaat-e-Islami. “The stature he enjoys is fragile and he should have avoided targeting our religion and prophet as his predecessors did in the past.” Qari Gul Rehman, secretary general of the breakaway faction of Maulana Samiul Haq’s Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam and an MMA MNA, said Muslim scholars and people had never targeted any religion and their revered personalities but the Pope’s statement against the Prophet Muhammad (
Qari Hanif Jalandhari, secretary general of the Wafaqul Madaris, the largest of five educational boards, which control over 9,000 out of 14,000 seminaries across the country, said the Pope’s words were not unintentional but it was part of the West’s agenda against Muslims. “The Pope is yet another ally of George W Bush and what he has said must be part of the agenda the US-led West has conceived against the Muslim world. His apology cannot heal the Ummah’s wounds.” Other religious parties, including the Sunni Tehrik and Ahle Sunnat Jamaat, held demonstrations outside the Karachi Press Club to express their anger. Liberal parties such as the Tehrik-e-Istaqlal also staged a similar demonstration at the same place.