ISLAMABAD: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has said he believes ananti-terrorism Islamic edict, or fatwa, issued by Pakistan, should havecovered the entire Muslim world, including Ghani’s war-torn nation,reported Voice of Americalink>.
Ghani spoke Wednesday, a day after more than 1,800 Pakistani clericsunveiled the edict at a government-sponsored event in Islamabad. Thedirective declared as un-Islamic acts that include suicide bombings,sectarianism, and calls for jihad in the name of religion without theconsent of the state.
He told a gathering in Kabul of Afghan youths, women, civil societyactivists and clerics that fatwas issued under Islam have never beenconfined to geographical boundaries of a single nation. Clerics in theaudience voiced their agreement when the Afghan leader asked for theiropinion.
“If they [Islamic principles] extend to all [of the world] of Islam, thenit [the Pakistani edict] should first and foremost be implemented inrelation to Afghanistan,” Ghani said.
‘ASTONISHING’ COMMENTS:
There was no immediate official reaction in Pakistan to Ghani’s comments,but privately, authorities dismissed them as “astonishing,” citinglong-running accusations of Pakistani interference in Afghanistan’sinternal affairs.
Analysts viewed Ghani’s criticism as another indication of deep mistrustand tension in relations between the neighboring countries.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have deteriorated over Kabul’sallegations that Taliban insurgents and their allies are using Pakistanisoil for sustaining and expanding insurgent activities.
In turn, Islamabad alleges Afghanistan’s intelligence agency — the NationalDirectorate of Security, with the help of Indian counterparts — issheltering fugitive Pakistani militants and helping them to plot terroristattacks against the country.
“It would be inappropriate for Pakistan to pressure or to press upon theirclerics to give a statement regarding any other country,” said ZahidHussain, a Pakistani columnist and author of books on extremism.
Instead of taking “a narrow view” of the edict, President Ghani should haveappreciated Pakistan’s effort rather criticising it,” Hussain said.
DOING ALL IT CAN:
Afghan officials say that during a visit to Kabul last October, Pakistanimilitary chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had assured Ghani he would seek afatwa from Pakistani clerics with regard to the Afghan conflict. Pakistaniofficials have not confirmed those assertions.
Pakistani Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, while addressing Tuesday’sceremony where the edict in question was announced, reiterated that hiscountry is doing all it can to fight terrorism and has suffered tens ofthousands of casualties in the process, in addition to massive economiclosses.
“Terrorism has no place in Islam, whether against our own people or againstother people. Pakistan is committed to not allowing any group to use itsterritory to carry out any act of terrorism against anybody. What is notgood for us is not good for others also,” Iqbal said.
GOVERNMENT UNDER FIRE:
The government itself has been under fire since issuing the fatwa. Critics,such as rights activist Tahira Abdullah, raised objections about theparticipation of certain clerics at Tuesday’s event.
She said the list of those invited to the conference, held in the office ofPresident Mamnoon Hussain in Islamabad, contained names of clerics withties to banned Islamic organisations.
“We strongly protest and condemn this blatantly obvious — but failed—attempt to confer respectability and legitimacy on religious-politicalorganisations, individuals, and groups, which are either proscribedthemselves, or have very close links with such entities,” Abdullah said.
The activist said she saw the participation of controversial clerics aspart of alleged official efforts to mainstream extremist groups in nationalpolitics.
“This is a monster, which will boomerang back at us all,” she said.
The Pakistani fatwa was ratified by, among others, Muhammad AhmedLudhianvi, who is known for his ties to the outlawed Sunni-based sectariangroup, Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ). Authorities accuse the group of beingbehind attacks on Pakistan’s minority Shiite community.
Another signatory was Hamid-ul-Haq, the son of the Pakistani clericSami-ul-Haq, who is widely referred to as the “Father of the AfghanTaliban”. The cleric’s Islamic seminary, near the northwestern city ofPeshawar, is where prominent radical leaders, including Taliban founderMullah Mohammed Omar, received an education.