Pakistan is a democratic country and there is no room for a theocracy here, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afgan Niazi told the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) during a debate in the Senate on Monday over the demolition of two mosques in Islamabad. | MMA members shouted slogans and called Afgan a “lota”, or a turncoat, while Ports and Shipping Minister Babar Ghauri led the treasury members in shouting slogans demanding the MMA resign. |
Afgan said the government would not allow theocracy to take root in Pakistan or mullahs to politicise Islam. “Instead of making speeches in parliament, mullahs should resign, go to mosques and preach,” he said. Responding to the issues raised by the MMA on points of order, Afgan said clerics should tell people that the demolished mosques were built on encroached land.
MMA members shouted slogans and called Afgan a “lota”, or a turncoat, while Ports and Shipping Minister Babar Ghauri led the treasury members in shouting slogans demanding the MMA resign.