| "Let's get this straight: Nobody's a Muslim but us! Got that?" |
Difa-e-Islam Mahaz (Front for the Defence of Islam), an alliance of 22 Sunni religious organisations, is trying to get a fatwa (decree) from scholars of all sects including Shia and Ahle Hadith in Pakistan to declare Aga Khanis kafir (infidels), Dr Mufti Sarfaraz Naeemi, principal of Jamia Naemia, told Daily Times on Sunday. He said, "We have first called for a decree from local Sunni scholars and then the consensus will be made on a national basis to declare Aga Khanis, like the Ahmadis, non-Muslim. After that, no school considering them non-Muslim will join the Aga Khan Board (AKB)."He said this when asked to comment on the AKB issue, which was part of the main agenda of the Difa-e-Islam Mahaz meeting held at Jamia Naemia on Sunday afternoon. The other agenda included the recent amendment in Section 295-C (Blasphemy Law) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and the abolition of the religion column in the new passport. He said Sunnis already considered Aga Kahnis non-Muslim. Asked what the problem was with having an Aga Khani educational board in Pakistan as thousands of students were already taking exams under the British (Christian) system, he said it was already clear that the British system was Christian. About discussions on Section 295-C (Blasphemy Law) of the PPC, Dr Naeemi said the meeting opposed the recent amendment in the aforesaid section, empowering only a superintendent of police level official to inquire into a blasphemy incident before lodging a First Information Report (FIR). He warned that the situation could also instigate common Muslims to react or attack such an accused if he were not arrested immediately. He feared that though this would be against the law, the government would be responsible for such a situation.