PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government in accordance with the directives of Chief Minister (CM) Pervez Khattak is engaged in the collection of data of all the mosques for the appointment of its “Khateeb” as official employees of the government.
The CM floated the idea during a cabinet meeting couple of days back and the ministry of Religious Affairs is busy in the collection of data.
Religious Affairs Minister Habib Ur Rahman Khan, who is affiliated with Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), has confirmed the reports and said that the chief minister floated the idea in line with the National Action Plan (NAP) in a bid to curtail the growing trend of militancy and terrorism.
He said that there will be defined criteria for the appointment of khateebs for mosques and they would perform their duties according to government’s policies.
In this connection, he said that the rules and regulations for their appointment and terms and conditions of their employment and responsibilities will be decided by the government.
In response to a question, he dispelled the impression about rifts amongst ulema on the grounds of religious faiths and beliefs. He said that there is no difference amongst the ulema, and he also disagreed that majority of the khateebs were associated with religious political parties.
He also said that majority of khateebs, occupying offices of Imam in mosques, inherited them from their fathers and forefathers. He also negated the view that these offices were misused by leaders of different politico-religious parties from time to time.