KARACHI: A total of 15 Ulema from different schools of thought on Saturday declared their support to the dialogue process between the government and the Taliban.
The support came a couple days after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif constituted a four-member committee for talks with the Taliban, saying the government has adopted the path of talks with the Taliban to give peace another chance in the lager interest of the country.
A meeting of religious scholars was held in Karachi on Saturday under the chairmanship of Wifaqul Madaris Al-Arabia Chief Maulana Saleemullah Khan, and it expressed concern over the continued violence and described it as disastrous for the country and the nation.
The meeting was attended by Mufti Muhammad Rafi Usmani‚ Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani‚ Maulana Fazlur Raheem‚ Maulana Hafeez Jalandhari‚ Mufti Muhammad Ashraf‚ Maulana Muhammad Hassan‚ Maulana Syed Adnan Kakakhel‚ Mufti Mukhtaruddin and Maulana Dr. Sher Ali Shah.
The government-constituted dialogue committee includes the premier’s advisor on national affairs Irfan Siddiqui‚ veteran journalist Rahimullah Yusufzai‚ former ambassador and expert on Afghanistan affairs Rustam Shah Mehmand and a former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) official Major (retd) Muhammad Amir, while the federal interior minister who remained a focal person for the dialogue process will assist the committee and he will personally monitor the whole process.