KARACHI, Nov 1: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain on Monday said the practice of branding non-conformists as infidels or kafirs should end now as Pakistan was meant for people belonging to all religions and sects.

He said this while telephonically addressing more than 900 ulema, mashaikh and other religious leaders at the party's headquarters, Nine Zero.

Mr Hussain said he was saddened by the sermons of heaven for those involved in suicide bombing. Such edicts, he said, were only being issued by pseudo elements exploiting the fair name of religion for self-aggrandisement, or by the people who had least or no knowledge of the teachings of Islam.

Branding rivals as infidels or kafirs is no service to the country or its people and tends to spread hatred and contempt for each other. Mr Hussain posed a question about the status of Pakistan. "If it is to be an ideological state then why are its doors shut on Muslims of the subcontinent. The two-nation theory died with the break-up of the state in 1971. And the statement of the Quaid-i-Azam that Muslims in India should be loyal to their own country, was like dampener on the ideological basis of the newly-founded country."

He said that Pakistan was created for the 100 million Muslims of the subcontinent in 1947 but soon after the creation of the new state, Muslims of the subcontinent were barred from coming to their new homes. "It may, therefore, be surmised that Pakistan is not an ideological state," Mr Hussain argued.

He said that if today a declaration was made that Pakistan was a country for all the Muslims of the subcontinent, he would be the first to retrace his steps about Pakistan being an ideological state.

The MQM leader regretted that a debate had been started, after the break-up of the country, that Pakistan was a Sunni or a Shia country, or it was a country of the Deobandis or Barelvis. If that was the position then which sect the Quaid-i-Azam belonged to? he asked.

Indirectly targeting the Jamaat-i-Islami, the MQM chief claimed that irony of the fate was that one of the main politico-religious parties which had opposed Pakistan tooth and nail, had now become the principal guarantor of our country.

Mr Hussain reminded people that the drama played in the subcontinent had no parallel in history. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement, he added, had always been advocating tolerance and non-interference in each other's religious faith and practices. Everyone must enjoy his rights and privileges to practice his religion.

He said that for 50 years, we had been praying for the solution of Kashmir and Palestine, but since it was an academic debate, he would not like to dwell on it. However, a major portion of our national budget was used by the military in the name of Kashmir, and the rest was being pocketed by religious elements for crusade in Kashmir, he said. "But I want to know whether Kashmir problem has been solved by these tactics."

He regretted that religious leaders of a country fell prey to ill-educated or uneducated ulema, who urged people to fit bombs around their waists and kill people in the name of holy war. "This is a tragic situation and ought to come to an end now."

He requested all countrymen to pray for his success in India where he is going to participate in a major conference next week. "It is a tragedy that whatever I could not say in my own country, I am forced to utter on foreign soil."

Altaf Hussain said he would try to present the case of Pakistan with a view to find solutions to the Kashmir and other contentious issues. He said that while in India, he would also emphasize the need for reopening of visa office in Karachi and the Khokhrapar-Monabao route.