Federal Religious and Minorities Affairs Minister Ijazul Haq on Sunday appealed to the people to remain peaceful and avoid indulging in activities that can harm the private or public property as a reaction to the murder of religious scholar Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai.
Addressing a press conference at the Governor House here, after having a detailed meeting with Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad, who was also present at the press conference, Ijaz said that religious leaders had already assured him of their co-operation and they have appealed to their followers to remain peaceful.
He said he had talked to most of the leaders, who had already termed the incident a conspiracy against the country. Such incidents are a reaction to Pakistan's joining the international war against terrorism and all the political forces should co-operate with the government to face such conspiracies.
The statement issued by the Leader of Opposition, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, is appreciable, he said.
"All are thinking on the same pattern, though some statements were deplorable, but I'll not comment on them at this point," Ijaz said.
To a question, he said, "It is a target killing with an aim to initiate sectarian riots as such an act cannot be performed by a Muslim. Killing a scholar of such eminence won't take you to paradise," he said.
"I am not sure if some foreign hand is involved in the killing, but it is not a job of a sane Muslim," he said. Paying tributes to Mufti Shamzai, Ijaz-ul-Haq said he had contributed a lot to bringing the scholars and religious leaders of various schools of thought at one platform and promote the cause of brotherhood and sectarian harmony in the country.
He said the Sindh government should ponder over the point that such terrorist activities were again on the rise in Karachi for the last few weeks.
However, the provincial and federal governments were utilising all available resources to check such incidents and bring the culprits to book.
He said he was in Karachi and left for Islamabad on Sunday morning, but was informed about the martyrdom of Mufti Shamzai after the take off of the plane. "So I went to Islamabad, held meetings with the President and the Prime Minister, who had condemned the incident and expressed condolence over the death of an Aalim who was working for sectarian harmony.
"I was asked to fly back to Karachi to discuss it with the Sindh governor before going to attend the funeral," he told the press.
He said he had requested the religious leaders not to politicise this terrorist act. Similarly, he appealed to the opposition as, he added, in such national issues, there is no opposition and all should act as a nation."
Ijaz also paid tributes to the Sindh governor, saying it was his effort that the rising temperature of the city goes down and the Binori Town management had assured the police and authorities that the burial of the scholar would be peaceful.
Talking about the Binori Town Madressah, he said, the best presentation made in the youth convention, convened by President Pervez Musharraf was by a student of Binori Town Madressah, which speaks volumes of its standard of education.
When asked why worship places and Ulema were being targeted for terrorist activities, he said, the anti-social elements and terrorists have tried to destabilise the country by all other means. As the movements initiated from religious institutions are always very strong and successful, therefore, they have started targeting them to cause some big movement against the government and to detach Pakistan from the international war against terrorism.
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