Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Saturday said that religious scholars (Ulema) of all schools of thought and media organisations have unanimously decided to support the government and Pakistan army in war against terrorism. Speaking at a press conference after presiding two meetings of representatives of seminaries and media organisations, he said religious scholars have expressed their resolve that they will completely support the National Action Plan (NAP) against terrorism. The meeting was also attended by the representatives of parliamentary parties, he said.
Nisar said the representatives of seminaries of all schools of thought have declared that they are firmly standing by the nation in the war against terrorism. He rejected the impression that after the passage of the 21st Constitutional Amendment political polarisation has increased. The representatives of both Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) and Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) were present in meeting, he said.
"We will try to address the reservations of the two parties regarding the 21st Constitutional Amendment as well," he added, clarifying that the two parities have some technical reservations regarding the 21st Amendment. He said that no seminary will be targeted without evidence. "According to intelligence reports, more than 90 per cent of seminaries are not involved in any kind of suspicious or terrorist activity," he said. However, he said that at present "we should not indulge in a war of figures regarding seminaries' involvement in terrorism as their involvement may be 10 percent or 1 percent."
The Minister said the ongoing war against terrorism is going to be a long-drawn war and the nation should be prepared for a long battle against terrorists. All segments of society, including media, have to play their due role in this regard, he said. He said the representatives of media organisations including Pakistan Broadcaster Association (PBA), Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editor Association (CPNE), All Pakistan newspaper Society (APNS) and Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) vowed support to the NAP. "They expressed the resolve that they would play an effective role towards eradication of terrorism," he said.
The Minister said the meetings adopted a unanimous resolution strongly condemning the publication of sacrilegious caricatures by a French magazine in the name of freedom of expression and media. He said that people of Paris were required to protest against blasphemous cartoons the way they had protested against the attack on Charlie Hebdo.
About the recent visit of US Secretary of State John Kerry, the Interior Minister said that during the meeting with John Kerry country's interest was kept supreme. He said he made it clear before Kerry that $230 million aid previously provided to Pakistan by the Americans was seen nowhere on the ground and that it must be audited. "I told Kerry it should be determined whether the aid provided by the US for fighting terrorism was utilised by Pakistan or was handed over to its own people," he said. Kerry admitted that the US should have reviewed the aid first, the minister said.
He said army is facing the dual challenge of terrorism as India was trying to engage it in border skirmishes. "India does not seem to have good intentions regarding resolving bilateral issues with Pakistan. The statements issued by its leaders clearly indicate that it is not ready to let Pakistan deal with terrorism," he said. To a question about petrol crises, he said that the government is responsible for the current petrol crises and it's the incompetence of the government. "He feel ashamed when he sees long queues of vehicles outside petrol stations," the minister said. He said that billions of rupees would be required for the implementation of the NAP. "At the moment, investment in security is no expenditure, rather it is an investment," he said.
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