Siraj demands Shariah courts to tackle terrorism

PESHAWAR: Condemning the gruesome attack on the Army Public School and College, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq on Thursday demanded the establishment of Shariah courts to maintain peace and overcome terrorism in the country.
“Terrorism cannot be rooted out through military courts and special courts. Different courts have been experimented in the country. Shariah courts are the only solution to all the problems, including restoration of peace and an end to terrorism,” he stated in his speech at the Shuhada-e-Amn Qaumi Conference held at the Nishtar Hall.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Awami National Party (ANP) General Secretary, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) Maulana Gul Naseeb Khan, Qaumi Watan Party’s (QWP) Hashim Babar, KP Minister for Local Government, Inayatullah and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) chief Maulana Samiul Haq also spoke at the conference.
The JI chief said all the political parties had given a mandate to the federal government for restoring peace in the country and it remained a big challenge. He rejected the United Nations’ and European Union’s objection over the government’s decision to lift the moratorium on the death penalty. “Why they didn’t object to the hanging of a Jamaat-e-Islami leader in Bangladesh?” he asked.
He demanded the federal government to solve the problems being faced by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government in the KP. “The federal government should hand over the resources of the province to the KP government,” he stressed.
The JI chief asked the PTI and PML-N leadership to remove their differences and unite for restoring peace and stability in the country.Sirajul Haq also demanded a better system of government for the people of Fata. He asked the leaders of the political parties to come forward and make 2015 the year of peace in the country by initiating practical steps.
In his speech, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak said the attack on the army-run school in Peshawar was a national tragedy and now there was an open war against the terrorists.“It’s everyone’s war. It’s Pakistan’s war and we all have to fight it,” he maintained.
“Our foreign policy should change now. The country has been enslaved for the sake of money. We should stop getting dictation from the outside,” the chief minister said, adding that there was no proper data regarding the Afghan refugees in Pakistan. He argued that the Afghan refugees wanted to return to their homeland, but the federal government in Islamabad was not paying money for their repatriation.
“Afghans are our brethren but there should be no illegal entry of people on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border,” he said, adding that if the rulers wanted peace, it could be restored in the country within a month.
The chief minister also said that the federal government should make a roadmap for the return of Afghan refugees to Afghanistan. He claimed the federal government did not give money to the provincial government for the upkeep of the IDPs from the tribal areas.
Maulana Samiul Haq said the judicial system had failed and that was the reason there was a demand for establishing the military courts. He said some people were saying that the militants were coming from the madrassas. “I will take action against the terrorists if it was pointed out that they were present in a Madrassa,” he added.
ANP leader Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that first, they should differentiate between the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Taliban in the country. He said the Punjab was a training centre for the terrorists and action ought to be taken against them. He said the terrorists’ teachers were present in the Punjab and their students were carrying out activities in other parts of the country.
He said that when Pakistan pointed out the terrorists’ infiltration from Afghanistan, Afghan President Dr Ashraf Ghani also pinpointed the terrorists’ entry to his country from Pakistan.He demanded of the government to tell the nation where the terrorists took refuge ahead of attacking the Army Public School and College in Peshawar.
He also said there was no need for amendments in the Constitution for setting up the military courts as these could also be set up through an executive order for two years.QWP’s Hashim Babar and PML-N’s Iqbal Zafar Jhagra also addressed the conference.