- Wajid Shamsul Hasan says he attended Ahmadiyya Peace Conference in Alton in personal capacity and his speech centered around ‘Love for all, hatred for none’ theme of the conference
Punjab Assembly unanimously adopted on Friday a resolution condemning former high commissioner to UK Wajid Shamsul Hasan’s statement allegedly declaring members of the Ahmadi community as Muslims.
The comments which had been attributed to Hasan by an Urdu daily caused uproar in the House on Thursday and sparked debate which concluded today with MPA Waheed Gul putting forth the resolution.
The resolution condemned the former envoy’s comments in which he stated that former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s decision to declare Ahmadis non-Muslims was wrong.
Stressing that the remarks hurt the sentiments of Muslims, the resolution called upon the federal government to initiate legal action against Hasan for making a statement in opposition to the decision that was taken by the National Assembly in the past.
On Thursday, MPAs from both the treasury and opposition benches demanded that a joint resolution be passed to condemn the statement. Raising several slogans during the session, lawmakers including MPAs Ilyas Chinioti, Dr Farzana Nazeer, Mian Aslam Iqbal and Qazi Ahmad Saeed, took to the floor to condemn the alleged statement.
Mian Aslam Iqbal said that Hasan should be stripped off all government titles and awards. Pakistan People’s Party parliamentary leader Qazi Ahmad Saeed proposed that an FIR be lodged against Hasan. He urged the government to take strict action against the former high commissioner.
WAJID CLARIFIES:
Meanwhile, in a clarification mailed to the media, Wajid Shamsul Hasan offered his profound regrets if whatever he had said undermined the feelings of any sect of Muslims anywhere in the world—more so in Pakistan.
Wajid said that he had never given any interview to any newspaper on the referred issue, especially one which is reputed to be the mouthpiece of a religious-political organisation whose founder had called Quaid-i-Azam Kafir-e-Azam and his idea of Pakistan as a vision for “Na-Pakistan”.
“I am surprised that Honourable Punjab Assembly members took pains to discuss, condemn and pillory me for an out context reference to my speech (and not interview as stated by a member) given at the Ahmadiyya Peace Conference.
“It is painful for a person who devoted nearly six years in fire fighting for Pakistan—whether it is the perception of Pakistan as the epicentre of international terrorism or an Islamic country where minorities have become most vulnerable and sexual abuse of children a minor issue fading out from the media and the floor of the Punjab Assembly faster than the incident was first reported, to defend himself for out of context attributions when despite being non-official and in ill-health, continue to spend his quality time in correcting wrong perceptions about Pakistan.”
“In August 2010 a massacre of Ahmadis took place in Lahore and I had gone to the Ahmadiyya Centre to condole the death of over 90 Ahmadis with the head of the Community. Next day media here reported fatwas against me by the clerics declaring me to be a heretic. This seems to be a permanent trend especially among those clerics who are followers of leaders responsible for Punjab sectarian riots in early fifties who disappeared from the public scene after causing a blood bath. As their influence grew these elements impacted course of Pakistan’s politics through their bigoted regression to what we are today.
I attended the Ahmadiyya Peace Conference in Alton in my personal capacity and my entire speech centred around the Kalima “Lal e La Ha Illal Lah Muhammudur Rasool Allah””—“Love for all, hatred for none” theme of the conference. I made a few minute-long speech in which I reiterated that Islam is religion of peace, its Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him)—Khatumul Nabeen-was Rehmatul Lil Alameen- blessings for the entire humankind and I elaborated—irrespective of caste, creed, colour or gender. I made it a point that Pakistan did not come about because Islam was in danger in British India—where all religious communities could practice their faiths in full freedom.
