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Musharraf calls for jihad against fundamentalist elements

B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD: In an address to the nation on Thursday, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said the country's name had been dragged directly or indirectly into every major terrorist incident in the world and this has done enormous damage. "When I try to tell the western leaders that Islam is a peace-loving religion, their response has been that actions speak louder than words."

Reference to India

In the course of his 45-minute address on the state-controlled electronic media, Gen. Musharraf referred to India only once when he spoke about the ongoing dialogue to resolve all disputes, including Kashmir. Unfortunately the fundamentalist elements in Pakistan were opposed to the process and wanted to continue with jihad.

"The problem is that they want to wage jihad all over the world," Gen. Musharraf said. He said the resolution of all outstanding issues with India would go a long way towards ushering in peace and stability in the region. He appealed to the people of Pakistan to "wage a jihad against fundamentalists" and elements misleading people in the name of Islam. "Please help in taking on these extremists and do not fall into their trap. These fundamentalist elements want to damage Pakistan and Islam."

He said fundamentalist elements in the country had hijacked Islam as "progressive and forward looking" practitioners had deserted the scene. The time had come to liberate Islam from the hardliners who were behind time. "These elements have never been right in their judgment. They dubbed Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the likes of him as non-believers. What could you expect from them," he asked.

He said clear instructions had been issued to authorities to ensure that banned militant and sectarian outfits did not resurface under new names. They would not be allowed to raise donations and no one would be allowed to either possess or display unauthorised weapons.

Major crackdown soon

A major crackdown would be launched to curb hate literature and strict action would be taken against any one involved in the printing or distribution of such propaganda. He wanted to know why heads of religious schools were not enthusiastic about registering with the Government.

"I have been urging you to cooperate with the Government for over three years. This is my last appeal. Registration is in your interest, as it would help the students get exposure to modern subjects along with Islamic education. I wonder how this suggestion poses a danger to Islam."

There is no official estimate of the number of religious schools in the country. Unofficial estimates vary between 10,000 and 20,000.

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