ISLAMABAD: Secretary General of Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Fiqh-e-Jafaria Pakistan, Allama Basharat Hussain Imami, stated that the sacred blood of the martyrs of the Pakistan Army will not be allowed to go in vain and that proscribed organizations will continue to be exposed. He demanded that the federal and provincial governments implement all clauses of the National Action Plan without any exception or favoritism. He said that the participation of proscribed organizations in recent “Ulama o Mashaaikh Conference” is deeply concerning, and called upon Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Hafiz Asim Munir to take notice. He added that portraying banned terrorist groups as representatives of religion or sect is hostility toward religion itself.
He emphasized that true commitment to counterterrorism will be demonstrated only through the practical enforcement of bans on all proscribed groups. Strict action must be taken against those who even after signing the counterterrorism narrative Paigham-e-Pakistan, still continue to declare recognized schools of thought as heretical. He said there is no sectarian conflict in the country; rather, the violence of proscribed groups nurtured through foreign funding should not be misconstrued as sectarianism.
He expressed these views while addressing a gathering at Majlis-e-Hazrat Imam Ali Naqi (A.S.) on Wednesday in connection with the Ashra-e-Ajr-e-Risalat (PBUH).
Allama Basharat Imami highlighted that the exemplary life of the great personality of the Household of the holy Prophet Muhammad and Aal-e-Muhammad (PBUH), Hazrat Imam Ali Naqi (A.S.), is a complete practical guide for humanity, embodying the true fulfillment of Ajr-e-Risalat and offering a comprehensive remedy for the scourge of terrorism facing the world today. He stated that Pakistan has rendered more than eighty thousand sacrifices in the war against terrorism. In this struggle for the survival and security of the motherland, Pakistan’s brave armed forces and security institutions have made invaluable contributions and countless sacrifices, with the full support of the nation, defeating internal and external aggressors.
However, he stressed that to eradicate extremism, intolerance, and terrorism from the motherland and to make it a cradle of lasting peace, formulation of laws and plans but their comprehensive implementation must also be ensured in their true spirit. After the tragic incident of APS Peshawar, the National Action Plan was devised as the most comprehensive strategy and a collective voice of the entire nation. Unfortunately, most of its points were sacrificed at the altar of personal, partisan, and short-term interests and expediencies. He noted that the DG ISPR also recently pointed out in a special press briefing that several points of the National Action Plan have not been implemented.
He further stated that groups involved in terrorism under anti-state agendas with foreign backing were declared proscribed, yet despite this, they continued to receive concessions for short-term interests, while policies contrary to the Anti-Terrorism Act and the National Action Plan were adopted in practice. Sectarian and ethnic-based electoral politics fueled discord and division in society. The National Action Plan also called for a ban on organizations that re-emerged under new names after being proscribed, but paradoxically, the same terrorist groups were treated as public representatives and included in policy-making processes.
He pointed out that some proscribed groups simultaneously appear on the Ministry of Interior’s list of banned terrorist organizations and on the Election Commission of Pakistan’s list of parties eligible to contest elections. The public is astonished that organizations prohibited by the government from collecting sacrificial animal hides are nevertheless allowed to contest elections, enter representative assemblies, and influence the fate of millions.
He said that after 9/11, global imperial powers intensified the promotion of a reprehensible narrative linking Islam-the religion favored by Allah-with extremism and terrorism. In Pakistan, instead of firmly clamping down on proscribed groups under the Anti-Terrorism Act, they were presented as representatives of religion and sects and included in official and administrative committees and councils. This not only reinforced that unjust narrative of international colonial powers but also gave banned groups an opportunity to influence Pakistani society.
He added that the state officially formulated the counter-terrorism narrative Paigham-e-Pakistan, under which leaders of proscribed groups, among others, were made to sign declarations against extremism, intolerance, and terrorism. However, Despite this, their rallies, marches, meetings, speeches, and sermons continue to openly promote extremist, intolerant, and takfiri ideologies-facilitating terrorism and fueling the very fire that needs to be extinguished. To stop this, government must take concrete steps strictly in accordance with the National Action Plan and the Anti-Terrorism Act, keeping only national interests in view.
