–Fawad says ‘fatwa-issuing’ clerics are responsible for majority of Pakistan’s woes
Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) Chairman Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi on Friday lashed out at Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry for making ‘controversial’ statements against clerics and challenged the minister to a one-on-one debate.
In a tweet earlier in the day, Fawad said fatwa-issuing clerics were the biggest threat to Pakistan.
“People from all sects should perform jihad against this attitude as 75 per cent of our problems developed due to such clerics,” he said.
In a press conference at Lahore Press Club, Ashrafi responded to the minister, saying clerics played a major and important role during Pakistan’s fights against terrorism and the freedom movement.
In a jibe at the minister, the PUC chairman said Fawad was studying law when the clerics were fighting against terrorism.
Responding to Fawad’s statement on ‘fatwa-giving’ clerics, Ashrafi said if someone issues a wrong ‘fatwa’ take action against that cleric. “Not all clerics are bad,” he said, adding all religious clerics must not be maligned.
In an allusion to the clerics ‘services’, he said today there was peace in the country due to the efforts of religious clerics,” he insisted.
He urged PM Imran to speak to his ministers and help change their behaviours.
He also commented on Fawad’s moon-sighting app, saying it was fine to use new technology for the moon-sighting. However, the prime minister should constitute a committee with religious clerics and astronomy experts on board.
He also lauded the government’s effort to bring changes in Pakistan on the same principles at which the state of Medina was born thousands of years ago.