The Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) on Sunday urged the Afghan Taliban regime to implement a resolution recently adopted by over 1,000 Afghan clerics in which they called for a ban on the use of Afghan soil for terrorism abroad.
The PUC, representing clerics from various Sunni schools of thought, described the resolution a “positive step” in the right direction. “It is now the responsibility of the Afghan interim government to ensure the implementation of the recent declaration issued by its scholars,” PUC Chairman Hafiz Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi told a press conference. He noted the stance of Afghan clerics was the same as that of clerics in Pakistan.
“There are two basic points in the declaration,” he explained. “First, they [Afghan clerics] say that aggression against Afghan soil is unacceptable, and we say that terrorism in Pakistan is unacceptable. Second, they say that Afghan soil should not be used against any other country, and we hold the same opinion. There should be no attacks on Pakistan from Afghanistan and vice versa,” he added.
Ashrafi emphasized that regional peace and stability are a collective interest and thanked Turkiye, Qatar and Saudi Arabia for their attempts to negotiate peace between Pakistan and Afghanistan. He further warned that any attempt to raise voices against Pakistan’s armed forces would be strongly resisted.
If the need arises, he claimed, religious seminaries and mosques would stand ready to defend the country, its security and stability alongside the armed forces. He stressed that safeguarding the homeland was a collective responsibility.
The PUC chairman urged political maturity, advising all political parties to sit together and engage in dialogue to strengthen the country’s defense, economy and internal stability. Criticizing the use of abusive language in politics, he said those who resorted to hate speech did not want peace. He said scholars from all schools of thought had unanimously declared that violent behavior was unacceptable.
“Our objective is to take the country towards the caliphate system through peaceful means,” he said, strongly condemning attacks and criticism directed at the military’s spokesman—primarily from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)—following a recent press conference in which he described former Prime Minister Imran Khan as “mentally unstable.”