KARACHI, Feb 22: MQM chief Altaf Hussain on Thursday called for freeing people from the damaging influence of mullahs and maulvis to enable them to utilise their energies in productive activities.

Addressing the academic sessions organised for MQM workers from Rahimyar Khan and Bahawalpur at the party’s headquarters, Nine Zero, he cited the example of medieval Europe which started progressing only after liberating itself from the false notions of church and priesthood.

The Europeans diverted their quest to the vast treasure of hidden knowledge, exploited it using science and technology and became prosperous, he observed. The same is appropriate in the case of Pakistani society but mullahs and maulvis have actually been poisoning the highly impressionable mind of masses with their half-baked stories which they had churned out for self- aggrandizement.

“People of Pakistan need to keep themselves abreast of the correct interpretation of their noble religion, the Holy Quran and Sunnah. Once they did that, floodgates of knowledge will open to them and enormous bounties of nature will begin to come which the countrymen can exploit for their progress and prosperity,” Altaf Hussain said.

He deplored that so-called guardians of Islam looked bent upon denying the womenfolk their due rights, conveniently forgetting that Hazrat Aisha (RA) had propagated the teachings of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) whereas wives of his companions (Sahaba) had taken part in holy wars and worked in battle fields to rush water and medical aid to the wounded. They wouldn’t have done that had the womenfolk in that era been barred from playing their due role in that society, the MQM leader said, and alleged that maulvis and mullahs were presenting a much distorted picture of their noble religion. They wanted to keep womenfolk away from education and let them become doctor, nurse, etc., he claimed.

Mr Hussain recalled that he had been branded Indian/western agent when he had drawn people’s attention to what was actually the truth. He asked the countrymen, especially the youth, to acquire knowledge of science and technology to lead the country to its goal of joining the ranks of developed states.

He also regretted that mullahs and maulvis had been raising a hue and cry over the issue of mosques in Islamabad but he would like to remind the nation that even Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) had acquired the land in Madinatul Munawwarah to build the Masjid-i-Nabavi by paying its cost. However, he added, the mullahs unfortunately believed in encroaching upon government lands in the name of Islam.