Pakistan President Calls for Jihad Against Terrorists

http://www.indiadaily.com/breaking_news/41396.asp

Musharraf calls for jihad against preachers of hatred, violence
Jul. 21, 2005

Under pressure after the London attacks and accused of not doing enough to tackle terrorism, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday night called for jihad against the preachers of hatred and violence. But in the same breath he said there were extremist organisations operating with impunity in Britain and it should do something about it.

In a televised address to the nation, Musharraf said it was unfortunate that Pakistan was either directly or indirectly dragged into all terror attacks and Islam was being denigrated. Referring to the London terror strikes, he said three of the four accused had Pakistani parentage. But they were British nationals, born, educated and bred in England. The General said one of the extremist organisations in Britain had passed an edict on his life but continued to operate freely.

While a lot needs to be done internally in Pakistan, “a lot needs to be done in the UK” too, he said. Musharraf argued that if three of the four accused in the London blasts had been indoctrinated as alleged, what about the fourth accused, a Jamaican? Observing that Pakistan was passing through trying times, Musharraf said instead of blaming and accusing each other, the correct strategy would be to support one another in the joint fight against terrorism.

He regretted that Islam was being dubbed as an extremist religion, which was intolerant and backs terrorism and fundamentalism whereas the religion has clearly spelt out that killing of even one human being is against the entire humanity. “But actions speak louder than words,” he said, adding it besmirched the image of Pakistan and Pakistanis living in Britain.

Switching from Urdu to English, Musharraf said he strongly condemned the recent terror strikes in London. “I don''t think the perpetrators of this act can be called human beings,” he said. He urged that Britain and Pakistan should “stand together in this struggle and fight terrorism to the end until we emerge victorious against them and eliminate them”. He hit out at the British media for “casting aspersions” on Pakistan.

Musharraf called on Pakistanis on to join a jihad, or holy war, against the preachers of hatred and violence and announced steps to rein in militant Islamic schools and organisations. Musharraf said all Islamic schools, or madrasas, would have to register with authorities by December. “I urge you, my nation, to stand up and wage a jihad against extremism and to stand up against those who spread hatred and chaos in the society,” he said. He said banned militant groups would not be allowed to re-organise under new names or to raise funds and keeping unauthorised arms would be strictly prohibited and action taken against distribution of literature designed to spread hatred. He said he was hopeful of resolving all disputes with India, including Jammu and Kashmir, peacefully and judiciously. “We want peace in the region. That is why we are talking to India to resolve all disputes because of which we have fought three wars,” he said. “We want a judicious resolution of all disputes, above all the Kashmir issue which should be solved as per the wishes of the Kashmiris,” Musharraf said.

An interesting idea, though I doubt it will go down to well in his country, especially as he isn't the most *popular* of leaders.

Good on Musharraf, I say...

I fear this might bring division within the religious leaders, which might bring even more problems. 😖

Hateret breeds more hateret.

Originally posted by Imperial_Samura
An interesting idea, though I doubt it will go down to well in his country, especially as he isn't the most *popular* of leaders.

Well Al Qaeda tried to assassinate Musharraf twice in the last 2 years
as well, so this my have an additional incentive for his beliefs. So how much of his war is personal vs. the smearing of Islam remains to be seen. But I agree with Sadako's Girth-"Good on Musharraf!"

Good, it's about time. Now we need all of the other Arab nations to do the same, and if they don't we should... ?

Well with regard to the Arab nations, the reason We're doing it now is because they failed to do it before, for fear of retribution in their own backyards. Not to mention how many of them actually feel the same way about America but won't admit it..but now they have a real problem because now as the old song goes, "The Mob Rules."

I think it's a great idea, even though the consequences might not be worth the effort. At least he's TRYING to do something. The part i liked MOST in the whole thing was this:

But they were British nationals, born, educated and bred in England. Nice way of laying the smackdown on people that would rather toss the blame around without first looking at their own problems.

~wickerman~

Agreed Wickerman.

While Musharraf is willing to do something, he's also willing to open the door to lay the responsibility of their behavior on their status as British nationals. I guess there's no such thing as a British\Pakistani terrorist then, huh?

Originally posted by Dagons Blade
Agreed Wickerman.

While Musharraf is willing to do something, he's also willing to open the door to lay the responsibility of their behavior on their status as British nationals. I guess there's no such thing as a British\Pakistani terrorist then, huh?

The Brits CAN be blamed, but it's understandable really. I mean, say you raised 3 kids of a different ethnic group. When they grow up, they try to kill you. Are you going to say

"I was a bad mother/father, there's something wrong with the way i raised them and i should rethink things"

or

"It's not my fault, i did my best, but they were destined to eventually turn into this, due to their heritage"

While the first is obviously the correct one, it's the hard one to accept 😉

~wickerman~

Originally posted by Wickerman
The Brits CAN be blamed, but it's understandable really. I mean, say you raised 3 kids of a different ethnic group. When they grow up, they try to kill you. Are you going to say

"I was a bad mother/father, there's something wrong with the way i raised them and i should rethink things"

or

"It's not my fault, i did my best, but they were destined to eventually turn into this, due to their heritage"

While the first is obviously the correct one, it's the hard one to accept 😉

~wickerman~

I suppose that would make sense. And how true it is for parents to say they did a bad job. Very good point, cheers 🙂