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Afghanistan
Ex-Pakistani MP: Security establishment’s support for Taliban an open secret
2016-08-11
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A prominent Pak politician and former politician Afrasiab Khattak has said the Pak security establishment’s support to the Afghan Taliban is an open secret as he joined several other politicians and critics in slamming the slamming the security establishments of the country for their ’good’ and ’bad’ bandidos Death Eaters approach.

The remarks by Khattak came after a deadly attack on a hospital in Quetta city, the picturesque provincial capital of Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
province of Pakistain.

Critics accusde Pakistain’s powerful security institutions of aiding and protecting the "good" snuffies -- those who launch attacks in India and Afghanistan -- while going after the "bad" bandidos Death Eaters whose attacks have killed more than 60,000 civilians and soldiers since 2004.

"It is also public knowledge that non-state actors find no obstacles to their agenda," Khattak was quoted as saying in a report by Gandhara/RFERL.

He said "Proscribed organizations not only indulge in public activities but also give themselves the right to determine Pakistain’s regional policy," he said.

Khattak, a longtime critic of Islamabad’s support for hard-line Islamist groups, said he sees no benefit to the current approach. "Our country is at daggers drawn with three out of four neighbors and faces growing international isolation," he concluded.

Another politician, Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani, said "Does the security establishment exist to protect Pakistain, or does Pakistain exist to [perpetuate] the security establishment?"

"We deserve to know the truth. Powers within this country are backing the terrorists. These people attacking us are from among us," he told the National Assembly or lower house of Pak Parliament, where he represents Balochistan.

Sherani rejected claims by a senior Balochistan official that India’s main foreign intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), orchestrated the attack. Barely an hour after the attack on August 8, Balochistan’s most senior elected official, Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri, blamed RAW for the attack. Pak officials frequently blame its regional archrival for the country’s domestic security woes.

"There is no RAW in Balochistan," Sherani told politicians. "They are the same people we nurtured," he said, referring to Pakistain’s decade-old support for Afghan Death Eaters and Islamist factions often blamed for launching attacks in India.

"Blaming RAW for everything will not work," politician Mahmood Khan Achakzai told the Pak National Assembly in an impassioned speech on August 9. "Our [intelligence] agencies can find a needle in a haystack, and now they should also do this [unmasking the perpetrators of the Quetta attack]."

Achakzai’s Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party is part of the provincial administration in Balochistan, yet he has consistently criticized the alleged covert support Pak intelligence services extend to factions of the Afghan Taliban and Salafist factions such as Lashkar-e Taiba, which New Delhi and Western government blame for attacks in India.
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India-Pakistan
CII rules out DNA as primary evidence in rape cases
2013-09-24
[Dawn] The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) on Monday decreed DNA tests unacceptable as primary evidence in rape cases, but said they could be considered as supporting evidence.

Addressing a presser, the Council's chairman, Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani, said that though DNA testing was a useful and modern technique for supporting evidence, it alone could not be used as primary evidence.

He added that the court of law could decide in light of the DNA test, when it was used with other evidences as a supporting material.

He said the council had also rejected the Women's Protection Act of 2006, saying its provisions were not in line with Islamic injunctions, adding that the Hudood Ordinance dealt with all these offenses.

He said Islam sets procedures to determine crime cases of rape.

Earlier, the Council had convened to review recommendations from its members regarding DNA to be used as evidence in rape cases and possible amendments to Pakistain's blasphemy laws.

It was earlier reported that the council was discussing a proposal to award the death sentence to people making false accusations under the blasphemy law. Allama Tahir Ashrafi was reported as saying that such an amendment would ensure "nobody dares to use religion to settle personal scores".

However,
there's more than one way to skin a cat...
Maulana Sherani in his presser today said that the existing blasphemy laws should not be amended and that the Pakistain Penal Code already had sections which dealt with sentences for those who misused any law of the land. He said that the judge in such cases could resort to those relevant sections to award sentences.

Sherani also said the council had unanimously decided that no member shall comment on any decision of the council's meeting unless the matter was elaborated and explained in a blurb or press briefing by the body.

Replying to a question, he stated that every institution played its own role and the Islamic Ideology Council was performing its job as guiding body and the powers to implement those recommendations did not rest with it.
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India-Pakistan
Religious scholars advocate culture of respect for tolerant society
2013-06-18
[Pak Daily Times] Chairman Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani on Monday said the culture of respect of opinion and patience would help establish tolerance in the society.
"I say Israel, you say:"
*mass foaming at mouth*
"Ok, we won't even try Jooooos. Y'all clearly aren't ready for actual tolerance."
Addressing the inaugural ceremony of a workshop as chief guest, he said it was imperative to change ourselves first and than it would be possible to bring about a positive change in society.

The two-day workshop, "Role of Aima and Khutba in establishment of a society with mutual respect and tolerance" was organised by the Shariah Academy of International Islamic University, Islamabad (IIUI) and International Forum for promotion of tolerance, Jordan.

The ceremony was presided over by Director General Shariah Academy Dr Muhammad Tahir Mansoori while renowned scholars including Maulana Mufti Muhammad Zahid of Jamia Imdadia Faisalabad
...formerly known as Lyallpur, the third largest metropolis in Pakistain, the second largest in Punjab after Lahore. It is named after some Arab because the Paks didn't have anybody notable of their own to name it after...
, Maulana Abdul-Aziz Hanif, Khateeb Jamia Masjid G-6 Islamabad and Dr Sohail Hassan, Director General Islamic Research Institute IIUI were also present on the occasion.

Maulana Sheerani said if they did not impose their views forcibly on others they would be able to lead our society towards peace and prosperity.
...And unanimous Sunnism of the right sort?
"We should renounce sectarianism, lack of tolerance and bias attitude to face the upcoming challenges of the world, Ummah certainly needs unity
For a given definition of unity that shall remain undefined...
and in order to achieve this goal Mohammedans should mould their lives according to the teachings of Islam" he said.

He discussed tolerance with the references of various religions in his address and stressed upon the Mohammedans to apply this salient feature of Islam in their practical lives.

Chairman CII added that Aima could play vital role to produce a tolerant and cooperative society.

Maulana Mufti Muhammad Zahid and Maulana Abdul-Aziz Haneef also delivered speeches on the occasion and enlightened participants with valuable information on the topic.

Earlier, Dr Tahir Mansoori in his welcoming remarks said difference of opinion should not be a source of conflict but the society should discourage rigidity in views.

He also highlighted the goals and objectives of the workshop. The workshop will conclude on Tuesday.
Shiites, Ahmaddis, Christians, Hindus... Yeah, I thought so.
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India-Pakistan
FATA JUI-F MPs ask govt to dissociate from US terror war
2007-02-18
A meeting of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) chapter, on Saturday urged the government to dissociate itself from the ongoing United States’ international war against terrorism. It also demanded the government to strike peace deals like that of the North Waziristan in all the tribal areas. “Maulana Fazlur Rehman, leader of the opposition and JUI-F chief, presided over the meeting, which was attended by the members of parliament belonging to the FATA besides Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, deputy secretary general of the JUI-F and Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani, chief of the party’s Balochistan chapter,” Maulana Mirajuddin told Daily Times after the meeting.

He said that the meeting demanded of the government to immediately summon the US ambassador to Pakistan and seek explanation about the recent statement of the US general that they would target Taliban and there was no need of permission from Pakistan. Mirajuddin said that the meeting believed that the government should honour the agreement held in North Waziristan. “We are ready to facilitate the government to strike peace deals in other parts of the tribal areas,” he said.
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India-Pakistan
MMA rift widens
2006-11-18
The rift between the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) widened when Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Amir Qazi Hussain Ahmed asked Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, in a harsh tone, to resign from the National Assembly along with other party parliamentarians. “Ask your MNAs to submit their resignations, otherwise allow other parties of the MMA to do what they want, ” sources quoted Qazi as telling Fazl during a meeting of the supreme council on Thursday.

Sources said that Fazl made last ditch efforts to convince Qazi and the leaders of the other four component parties to delay the decision to resign, but in vain. Later, Fazl agreed to tender resignations but sought some time to consult his party senators, MNAs and MPAs. Sources said Fazl told the meeting that JUI-F Balochistan chief Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani and other members belonging to the same province were not ready to resign. “They are not ready to act according to my advice,” sources quoted Fazl as saying. On this Qazi said, “They should follow the discipline of the alliance.”

Qazi recalled that the decision regarding resignations was taken in the last supreme council meeting and that Maulana Sherani had also supported the decision, sources said. Maulana Sherani had refused to resign from the assemblies on the issue of Nawab Akbar Bugti’s killing and had said that if the MMA wanted to quit the assemblies, it should do the same over the issue of the Hudood Bill, sources quoted Qazi as saying.
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Afghanistan/South Asia
MMA's anti-Musharraf campaign: Keep it out of Balochistan please
2004-12-11
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazlur Rehman group) leaders in Balochistan have asked the central leadership of the party not to take the current protest campaign by the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) against President General Pervez Musharraf, to Balochistan. "Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani, the president of JUI-F Balochistan, has made it clear to Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the party president and the leader of the opposition, that the JUI-F Balochistan would not welcome the protest campaign in the province," sources in the JUI-F told Daily Times.

They said Sherani also told Fazlur Rehman that the JUI-F had come into power in the province after many years, therefore it should rule the province calmly. "MMA should not hold a protest gathering in Balochistan that would destabilise the coalition government of the JUI-F and the Pakistan Muslim League (PML)," sources quoted Sherani as saying. Sources said the Balochistan JUI-F also made it clear to the central leadership of the JUI-F that the MMA should not extend its campaign to the North West Frontier Provinces (NWFP) either, restricting its campaign to Punjab and Sindh. Provincial leaders of the JUI-F have also suggested that the MMA hold gatherings in areas where the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) had National Assembly seats," sources said.
"Go pee in somebody else's sandbox, capische?
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The Alliance
JUI: Attack on Taliban an attack on Islam
2001-10-03
  • Daily Jang
    Launching countrywide mass mobilisation campaign against the US possible attack on Afghanistan, thousands of JUI-F activists on Tuesday marched through various roads in the provincial capital and vowed to foil all nefarious designs hatched by the US and allied forces.
    The attack on Afghanistan would be considered as an attack on Islam.
    The procession, led by JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Secretary-General Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, provincial Amir Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed Sharodi and others, categorically stated the attack on Afghanistan would be considered
    The US forces would have to face the wrath of the Muslims if it inflicted war on Afghanistan. He held the US government responsible for promoting terrorism in the world.
    as an attack on Islam.

    Wearing black and white turbans, the protestors were carrying placard and banners inscribed with anti-US slogans. They also chanted slogans against those Muslim countries, which are parting their ways from Taliban at the behest of the US. Addressing the protestors at Railway football ground, Maulana Fazlur Rahman said the people of Pakistan are ready to render all kind of sacrifices for Islam and their Afghan brethren. The US forces would have to face the wrath of the Muslims if it inflicted war on Afghanistan, he observed. He, however, held the US government responsible for promoting terrorism in the world.
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