Influential Sunni Ulema of Britain’s 2 million strong Muslim community have appealed to the Pakistan Army to continue the Operation Rah-e-Raast till the obliteration of the Taliban and their al-Qaeda supporters.
The unequivocal support for the military action against the Taliban came at a reference organised in the Central Mosque Brent to pay tribute to esteemed religious scholar Dr Sarfaraz Naeemi, who embraced martyrdom after being killed by a Taliban suicide bomber at Jamia Naeemia in Lahore, sacrificing his life to uphold the tolerant and peaceful teachings of Islam. The outspoken anti-Taliban cleric never shied from criticising the Taliban for bringing Islam into disrepute and for killing innocent Pakistani citizens and attacking the Pakistani defence institutions through their campaign of violence and intimidation. Dr Naeemi played a key role in facilitating the consensus of Sunni ulema against the Taliban’s version of Islam and declared suicide bombings as un-Islamic and anti-Pakistan.
The chair of British Muslim Forum, which represents over 500 Sunni mosques in the UK, Peer Habib-ur-Rehman, told The News that change was coming in the attitude of Pakistanis and they were now seeing Taliban as the biggest threat confronting Pakistan at the moment. He said the killing of Dr Naeemi should come as a wake up call to all Pakistanis.
