FAISALABAD: The Pakistan Ulema Council’s (PUC) central executive committee and members from across Pakistan on Sunday unanimously designated Tahir Ashrafi as the PUC chairman.
Addressing a press conference in Faisalabad, PUC Electoral Committee Nazim Ayub Safdar announced the decision. Safdar said the CEC members elected Ashrafi as Chairman and Zahid Mehmood Qasmi as secretary general of PUC.
The CEC also selected Abdul Kareem Nadeem as vice chairman, Ayub Safdar as deputy secretary general, Abdul Hameed Wattoo as foreign affairs secretary, Talha Kashmiri as finance secretary.
Speaking at the press conference, Ashrafi and Qasmi said that PUC is a religious, political and welfare party and its leadership is committed to making Pakistan a welfare state, which can guarantee rights to every citizen as defined in the constitution.
Ashrafi said PUC would participate in next general elections, adding that clerics and religious scholars should come forward to steer the country out of challenges. He said “Muslim Awareness Campaign” has been going on successfully since 19 November 2016 and congregations have been held in 32 cities of the country to educate people against extremism, terrorism and sectarian violence. The 2nd World Message of Islam Conference will also be held on March 1, 2017 in Convention Centre, Islamabad, said PUC chairman, adding that Seerat Conference would be held in connection of Rabiul Awal on December 17 in Lahore while Arabic Language Day would be observed on December 18 in Islamabad.
The CEC also adopted a resolution to denounce the criticism on part of US State Department relating action against Ahmadiya Centre, which was made in connection of the National Action Plan. The resolution read that criticism of the State Department was tantamount to interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs. Ashrafi said the literature that had been seized during a raid at Ahmadiya Centre in Rabwa (Chenab Nagar) comprised of blasphemous content about various religions. Publication and distribution of such hateful literature is strictly banned under NAP, the resolution added.
The CEC adopted another resolution to express grief and loss of lives in plane PIA crash and urged the government for a fair probe.
