Govt rejects TNSM offer for talks

[JK!]

Good article from Daily Times about clerics of all denominations supporting the Pakistan army: Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

Religious scholars announce full support for military operation

* JUP head terms TNSM chief Sufi Muhammad a ‘fake Sufi’

LAHORE: A national-level Mushaikh convention – organised by the Pakistan Mushaikh Council (PMC) – on Saturday announced full support for the military operation and urged the entire nation to unite against the Talibanisation.
In the convention held at Data Darbar, religious scholars from across the country unanimously declared that they would start a nationwide movement against the Taliban, American interference in the country’s affairs and in favour of the military operation.
The PMC announced that it would organise conferences and seminars to convey the true message of Islam and condemn terrorism.
Fake: Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) head Sahabzada Fazal Karim said Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) chief Sufi Muhammad was a “fake sufi” and the people of Pakistan did not need his “forced sharia”. He said the defeat of the Taliban was the success of Islam and Pakistan.
Khawaja Ghulam Qutabuddin Fareed said demolishing shrines, educational institutions and killing innocent people had nothing to do with Islam and Muslims. He said Islam and extremism were opposites and the real Muslims were those who felt the pain of others, rather than the Taliban who had taken up arms and were killing innocent people.
Federal Minister for Zakat and Usher Noorul Haq Qadri said the time had come to push the Taliban out of Pakistan. Qadri asked the religious scholars to come forward and contribute to the solidarity and stability of Pakistan as their elders did during the independence movement.
The religious scholars urged the government to withdraw all pro-American policies and to utilise all possible measures to stop the drone attacks, adding that the Americans should honour Pakistan’s sovereignty. They also declared the TNSM chief ‘infidel’. The religious leaders demanded national leaders to visit Balochistan immediately and work to end the Baloch people’s sense of deprivation.
“The government, political parties and religious organisations must take revolutionary and emergency steps for the provision of food, shelter, medical treatment and other basic necessities to the internally displaced persons (IDPs) of the NWFP,” the PMC said. staff report/app