Ulema, faith leaders back decree against suicide attacks

ISLAMABAD: Religious scholars, spiritual leaders and representatives of different faiths have unanimously reaffirmed their support for a decree against terrorism, suicide attacks and extremism, and fully endorsed the national narrative known as Paigham-i-Pakistan, according to a report by Dawn.

The declaration was issued at a joint meeting organised by the National Paigham-i-Amn Committee and the Balochistan Provincial Paigham-i-Amn Committee at Jamia Salafia Dawat-ul-Haq in Islamabad. The session was chaired by Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, chairman of the Pakistan Ulema Council and coordinator of the national committee, Dawn reported.

According to the report, those present backed the decree unanimously and endorsed the Paigham-i-Pakistan narrative in full. The two committees that convened the meeting take their name, Paigham-i-Amn, from the phrase for a message of peace, and the national committee is the body that has been associated with carrying the Paigham-i-Pakistan text.

The Dawn report did not carry the text of the declaration, the number of scholars and faith representatives who attended, or a full list of participants beyond the chairman. It also did not state the date on which the meeting was held.

The meeting was convened jointly by the national committee and its Balochistan provincial counterpart, a detail that places a provincial body alongside the federal-level initiative in the declaration announced on Wednesday. Neither committee issued a separate statement that was available in the reports.

Declarations by ulema against militancy carry weight in Pakistan because armed groups have long sought to justify attacks in religious terms, and because such statements are cited by the state as evidence of a broad religious consensus against extremism. The practical effect of the latest declaration will depend on the text of the decree and on how widely it is circulated among mosque congregations, neither of which was set out in the reports available.

Dawn reported that the participants included spiritual leaders and representatives of different faiths as well as Islamic scholars, describing the endorsement as unanimous.

No official of the federal government or of the Balochistan government was quoted in the report as commenting on the meeting, and no date was given for any follow-up gathering.