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India-Pakistan

Malik proposes loya jirga for peace in Kurram

2008-09-06

A loya jirga involving different sects will be held in Peshawar for the restoration of peace in Kurram Agency, Adviser on Interior Rehman Malik said on Friday. Malik was addressing a press conference at the Akora Khattak residence of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) chief Samiul Haq. The adviser said the military operation in Bajaur would continue until militants had been eliminated and peace restored in the area. He appealed to those displaced by the fighting to return to their homes. He said the US should now realise the Pakistani population strongly condemn violations of Pakistani territory.

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India-Pakistan

Nawaz, Sami discuss political climate

2008-04-22

Important issues concerning Pakistan were discussed in an hour-long meeting between Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI–S) chief Senator Samiul Haq and former prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif. According to a JUI-S spokesman, the discussions were held on the country’s external and internal situation, the government’s proposed plan to hold talks with resistance forces, restoration of judges, price hike, measures for improving law and order, missing persons’ issue, unemployment, energy crises and release of A Q Khan. The ruling coalition of the Pakistan Peoples’ Party, the Awami National Party and the PML-N has the ability to meet the challenges, Sami told Nawaz Sharif, adding that efforts should be made to lead the country to progress and prosperity. Both the leaders agreed to continue consultations in days to come for strengthening democracy.

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India-Pakistan

Mehsuds urge govt not to target tribesmen's houses

2008-01-29

The Mehsud tribe’s grand jirga on Monday demanded the government stop targeting the houses of innocent tribesmen during its ongoing war against local Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud. Several local elders, including Senator Maulana Saleh Shah, former member of the National Assembly Maulana Mirajuddin, Malik Masood Ahmad, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Sardar Hizbullah Gandapur and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami leader Sheikh Mohammad Shafi attended the jirga, which was held in Tank. The jirga said the government should stop damaging the property of peaceful tribesmen. The PML-N leader sympathised with the Mehsud tribesmen, and said his party supported the Meshuds during the prevailing crisis. He said President Pervez Musharraf had imposed a war on loyal tribesmen to appease the United States in the war on terror. He also offered his houses in Karak and Dera Ismail Khan to the people who had been displaced by the South Waziristan operation.

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India-Pakistan

JUI-S announces polls boycott

2007-12-15

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) on Friday announced to boycott the January 8 elections. “We have decided to boycott the Jan 8 elections because we believe that in the absence of an independent judiciary and election commission one can’t even imagine free and fair elections,” said JUI-S chief Maulana Samiul Haq at a press conference here at Parliament House. Sami said he had taken the decision after consulting his party. He accused that Pakistan People’s Party, Pakistan Muslim League (N), Pakistan Muslim League, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Awami National Party (ANP) and Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) were following the secular agenda of President Pervez Musharraf. He said the breakup of MMA and Nawaz Sharif’s U-turn on elections boycott showed that international powers were pursuing a hidden agenda in Pakistan. He said the breakup of MMA and Nawaz Sharif’s U-turn on elections boycott showed that international powers were pursuing a hidden agenda in Pakistan. Referring to a statement of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the US would prefer organizing moderates to extremists, Sami said it clearly showed that elections were being held on US directions. Answering a question, Sami said he was ready to join any opposition alliance including the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM), which was struggling for restoration of the Constitution and democracy in the country.

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India-Pakistan

JUI-S to start its own anti-WPA campaign

2006-12-12

The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) has decided that it will start a “Deen Bacho Tehreek” (save the religion movement) against the Women’s Protection Act (WPA) and contact other religious parties and clerics for their support, party sources told Daily Times on Monday. The sources said that the JUI-S had also decided to hire lawyers to challenge the WPA in the Supreme Court. They added that these decisions were taken in the JUI-S Majlis Shura meeting held at Akora Khattak a few days ago. The sources said that the meeting also formed four provincial and one central committees to plan the anti-WPA campaign. The sources said that party chief Maulana Samiul Haq warned the meeting that the government’s next “target” would be amendments to the blasphemy laws. They added that the meeting pledged to launch a campaign against the government to stop it from “anti-Islamic legislation”. The sources said that the meeting criticised MMA President Qazi Hussain Ahmad and Secretary General Maulana Fazlur Rehman for “adopting a friendly behaviour” towards the government. “They (the MMA) are friends of the government and are paving the way for a secular Pakistan,” a participant quoted Haq as telling the meeting.

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India-Pakistan

MMA to woo Sami for support against WPA

2006-12-11

The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) will try to convince Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) chief Maulana Samiul Haq to join the religious alliance in its campaign against the Women’s Protection Act (WPA), MMA sources told Daily Times on Sunday. The sources said that the MMA would contact Haq in a couple of days to seek his party’s support against the WPA. They said that after postponing their decision on resignations from the National Assembly, MMA leaders had decided to contact opposition parties against the WPA. “Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl had agreed at an MMA Supreme Council meeting on December 7 to postpone decision on resignations from the assembly to muster maximum support from the opposition parties against the WPA. Now the party will step up its campaign to contact religious and political parties against the WPA,” a senior MMA leader said. MMA Supreme Council Member Qari Gul Rehman said the alliance would try its best to save the “sanctity” of religion, adding that the opposition was being contacted against the WPA. He said the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) had responded positively to their suggestions. Samiul Haq said his party always sacrificed for the MMA, but it got nothing from the alliance in return. “The MMA has always supported the government through underhand deals,” Haq said. He said the JUI-S would start an anti-WPA campaign on its own that would be “effective than that of the MMA’s”.

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India-Pakistan

MMA split over anti-govt campaign

2006-05-08

The component parties of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) have expressed reservations about the decision by alliance president Qazi Hussain Ahmed and General Secretary Maulana Fazlur Rehman to launch an anti-government movement. They have accused the two leaders of taking a “confused” decision without consulting the components of the six-party alliance. Sources said that that the Jamiat Ahle Hadith Pakistan (JAHP), the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) and the Millat-e-Jafferia said that the MMA president and general secretary were negotiating with the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy to launch a joint struggle against the government, and had announced an anti-administration drive at the same time. Such a move would damage the opposition’s objective of toppling the government by the end of 2006, they said. Sources said that the Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan-Noorani (JUP-N) had also protested against the decision to launch an anti government drive “in the hottest spell of summer and without proper planning”. Party chief Anas Noorani was of the view that the Jamaat-e-Islami and the JUI-Fazl, the parent parties of the MMA president and general secretary, wanted to launch their membership campaigns “under the guise” of an anti-government movement, JUP-N leaders said.

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India-Pakistan

Sami expelled from JUI-S, says Fazl

2005-12-20

Maulana Fazlur Rehman, leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, has said that Maulana Samiul Haq has been expelled from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) and that now the party will take part in MMA activities under the name of JUI-Senior. Fazl quoted Pir Abdur Rahim Naqshbandi, who represented the JUI-Senior at Monday’s MMA Supreme Council meeting, as saying this. Poor Sami. His ego outgrew his party.

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Afghanistan/South Asia

Qazi warns he will quit as MMA chief

2005-06-01

The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) Supreme Council has still not decided on permitting Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman and NWFP Chief Minister Muhammad Akram Durrani to participate in the June 8 National Security Council (NSC) meeting. MMA Deputy Secretary General Liaqat Baloch told Daily Times after the meeting on Tuesday that the MMA component parties would likely discuss the issue again on June 6 in Islamabad. He said the religious alliance differed on letting Fazl and Akram Durrani attend the NSC meeting. The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) is against the two men participating in the NSC meeting while the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami and Tehrik-e-Islami leaders favour their participation. Fazl chaired the Supreme Council meeting in JI chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad's absence. He decided the religious alliance would strike on June 3 against terrorism in the country and the desecration of the Quran by US troops at Guantanamo Bay. Liaqat Baloch read out a letter faxed by Qazi before the meeting, which said he would resign as MMA president if Akram Durrani were allowed to attend the NSC meeting. Qazi was in Karachi to attend the funeral of JI Naib Ameer Aslam Mujahid. Liaqat Baloch told Daily Times that all MMA components had their own view about Fazl and Akram Durrani participating the NSC meeting. He said the JI did not want them to participate. However, the Supreme Council meeting urged Qazi to withdraw his letter. Fazl also asked the other components to avoid making statements about his and Akram Durrani's participation in the NSC meeting till a final decision was taken by the religious alliance. Liaqat Baloch said Qazi being the MMA president wanted the alliance to remain together. "We are ready to talk to the NWFP JUI-F and JUI-S separately on the participation issue. If Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz presides over the NSC meeting, the MMA doesn't object to sending its representative to the meeting, but in the presence of a uniformed president, we will not participate in the meeting," he read out from Qazi's letter.

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Afghanistan/South Asia

Opp requisitions NWFP Assembly for Sharia enforcement

2004-08-31

The opposition in the NWFP Assembly requisitioned the assembly session on Tuesday, submitting a nine-point agenda. Opposition Leader Shahzada Gustasip, Awami National Party parliamentary leader Bashir Ahmed Bilour, and the Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) parliamentary leader Abdul Akbar Khan handed over the requisition with 41 signatures to Acting Speaker Ikramullah Shahid. The agenda includes the non-implementation of Sharia, revival of the District Development Advisory Committee (DDAC) Act, formation of zakat and ushr standing committees, law and order, block allocation and umbrella projects in the Annual Development Programme (ADP), postings, transfers and appointment of class-4 employees and inflation and unemployment, Anwar Kamal Marwat, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) parliamentary leader, told Daily Times. Mr Marwat said the opposition had not planned any strategy for the upcoming session, claiming that the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) was in disarray and faced with differences and divisions among its component parties. The PML-N leader said a non-elected individual Mufti Kafayatullah, an MMA leader, was asking for the resignation of the deputy speaker who belonged to the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-Sami). Mr Marwat said NWFP Senior Minister Sirajul Haq from the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) had condemned Kafayatullah's statement asking for the resignation of the deputy speaker. Mr Marwat said the non-implementation of Sharia was at the top of the agenda as the six-party religious alliance had failed to implement the Sharia Bill despite the fact that the assembly had passed it. He said the MMA was bringing a bad name to the assembly and fooling people in the name of Islam.

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Afghanistan/South Asia

JUI-S says its arrested members have no contact with Qaeda

2004-08-17

The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) claimed on Tuesday that its arrested members from Faisalabad had no link with Al Qaeda. "No, no! Certainly not!" Talking to Daily Times from Akora Khattak, JUI-S spokesman Maulana Muhammad Yousaf Shah said the Mubarak Mosque committee chairman had conspired against the JUI-S members because one of them had refused to support him in embezzling the mosque's funds. That seems to be a favorite passtime of holy men, so it could even be true... Punjab Elite Force and Faisalabad police arrested Qari Obaidullah Gurmani, Qari Noor Muhammad and Qari Imam Din from Mubarak Mosque near Gao Shala Mor in Faisalabad on Monday, suspecting them of having links with Al Qaeda. Mr Yousaf said that Qari Noor Muhammad was the imam of Mubarik Mosque and had a dispute with the mosque committee chairman over the embezzlement of Rs 2 million in mosque funds. "Qari demanded the committee chairman spend the money on the mosque's construction but the chairman refused. He offered Qari 50 percent of the amount for not raising the issue but Qari refused," said Mr Yousaf. He said that the committee chairman then lodged a false report against Qari Noor Muhammad claiming that he had links with Al Qaeda. The JUI spokesman said that Qari Obaidullah was a visitor and the police also arrested him. JUI-S member Muhammad Yousaf Razi said the arrested men had no links with any jihadi organisation.

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Afghanistan/South Asia

Troops killed in Wana not martyrs: JI

2004-03-24

"No virgins for you!" The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) seconded on Tuesday the decree that Pakistani troops killed in the Wana operation were not martyrs, while the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) demanded the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) government resign because it failed to stop the operation. They're referring to the operation against the foreigners near Wana, who were maintaining a terrorist organization on sovreign Pakistani soil... The JI and the Jamaat-ud-Daawa (JD) arranged conventions in connection with the Pakistan Day at Ichhra and the Minar-e-Pakistan respectively. Addressing the JI convention, Jamaat Amir Qazi Hussain Ahmad said, “The tribesmen and the mujahideen are the martyrs, while Pakistani troops are not because they are operating on US commands.” He said hatred against the Pakistan Army is growing among people because of the Wana operation and President Musharraf, who is acting on the American agenda, was responsible for that. “There is need of an honest leadership in Islamabad, who can lead the Ummah and make decisions in the national interest”, said Qazi. Either that, or Pakland needs to suppress foreign infiltration and rebellion within its borders... Qazi, who is also the acting president of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), said the MMA would launch a mass movement to remove the US-backed rulers. I thought they were a mass movement to remove the US-backed rulers? He also said secularism was spreading in Pakistan on an American agenda to eliminate jihad from society. “Quranic verses (about jihad) are being excluded from the syllabi, the education sector is being handed over to the Aga Khan Foundation and Hindu customs like Basant are taking root in Pakistan,” he said. NWFP Senior Minister Siraj-ul-Haq blamed the governor for the Wana operation. “The governor is bypassing the elected government and the Wana operation is continuing under his supervision”, he said. Mr Haq said that only the MMA government could stop the destruction in the Tribal Areas. Infiltration and rebellion would seem to be a national problem, wouldn't it?

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