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| India-Pakistan |
| Religious figures claim no terrorists in south Punjab |
| 2010-06-04 |
| [Dawn] Ulema hailing from all sects and teachers of different madressahs at a joint press conference here on Wednesday condemned the statement of Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik about a possible army operation in south Punjab. According to them, there is no terrorist in any of the madressahs in the three districts of Bahawalpur division. Patron Mufti Ataur Rehman and president Mufti Mazhar Asadi of Tahafaz-i-Dini Madaris Committee flanked by Riaz Chughtai (JUI) and Allama Nadeem Hashmi (JI) and others at Darul Uloom Madnia said south Punjab was being deliberately targetted. According to them, of 620 madressahs, 500 have been registered in the district. They said if Rehman Malik proved presence of any terrorist in any madressah or mosque they would themselves hand him over to the government. They said in fact the interior minister himself wanted to disrupt peace in this region under the pressure of America and India to divert the attention of people from price hike and cover up government's weaknesses. The ulema said if the government did not drop its plan to launch a military operation in south Punjab, they would seek the support of the parliament or move the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, acting RPO Humayun Babar Tarar told Dawn there were no camps or hideouts of terrorists in Bahawalpur division. The area, he added, had been cleared during the previous months and even IG Tariq Saleem Dogar during his last visit here had said south Punjab had no terrorist camps. |
| Posted by:Fred |