...
The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka
The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an
independentbranch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
chief
Syed Munawar Hassan... The funny-looking leader-for-life of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. He joined the National Students Federation (NSF), a lefty student body, and was elected its President in 1959. He came into contact with the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT) Pakistan and studied the writings of Mawlana Syed Abul Ala Maududi,
The Great Apostasizer.As a result, he joined IJT in 1960 and soon he was elected as President of its University of Karachi Unit and member of the Central Executive Council. He was Assistant Secretary General of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistain in 1992-93, and became Secretary General in 1993. After years of holding Qazi's camel he was named Amir when the old man stepped down in 2009...
has said that government should take the offer of peace talks by Taliban seriously and hold meaningful dialogue with the bad turbans.
Addressing an 'Eid Milan' party at Nishtar Hall here on Monday, he urged the government to take all stakeholders into confidence before holding negotiations with the Taliban, who renewed their offer for peace talks with the government recently.
"The government and Taliban should come with open mind for talks to restore lasting peace in the country," the JI leader said. A large number of JI workers attended the function, which was organised in connection with Eidul Fitr.
Mr Hassan blamed some secular forces for creating hurdles in negotiations with Taliban in tribal areas. "These forces should understand that if government can hold talks with hijackers then why not with Taliban," he said.
The JI leader said that government should take all stakeholders and political forces on board for the upcoming All Parties Conference (APC). He was of the view that APC should not be only a formality and the government should circulate its agenda among the stakeholders before the conference.
Mr Hassan said that government had yet to respond to the Taliban's offer. The reason, he said, was that the government might have been waiting for green signal from the US government. He said that America was trying to hold talks with Afghan Taliban in Doha (Qatar) while it opposed negotiations between Pakistain and local Taliban.
Mr Hassan also asked Taliban to explain their position before holding formal talks with the government. He said that coalition government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
did not have the mandate to negotiate with Taliban. Only central government could do it, he added. However,
some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them...
provincial government should cooperate with the centre, he said.