PESHAWAR, June 30: Various religious leaders of the city have criticized the government for razing to ground a mosque on the premises of Peshawar Central Jail.

Speaking at a press conference at a mosque in the Ganj area on Sunday, the Khatib of the historical Qasim Ali Khan mosque, Mufti Mohammad Shahabuddin Popalzai, said all the religious and political parties would be contacted to launch a joint struggle against the provincial government policies.

The provincial government had demolished the mosque on Wednesday night and arrested some religious leaders to thwart any untoward incident, but the next morning all of them were released.

Mufti Shahabuddin said the NWFP government had started demolishing mosques one by one as it had already attempted to demolish a mosque in Gor Ghatri, which was not allowed by the residents of the area after holding protest and staging rallies.

He said prior to demolishing the mosque inside the jail limits, the NWFP home secretary had assured the religious parties’ leaders in a meeting that the government would take them into confidence on the issue. But the ill-intentions of the government were exposed when it demolished the mosque in late hours, he maintained.

Criticizing the government for its stance on the holy places, he said five mosques and two shrines had already been demolished in the Punjab province.

He said according to Shariah once a mosque was built on trust property neither it could be shifted to another place nor could be demolished. “The government act is totally un-Islamic,” he remarked.

He divulged that the government had a plan to give the Peshawar Central Jail land to a trust. If the land was given to the trust it would be tantamount to fanning a trouble in the city, he added.

Mufti Shahabuddin also flayed the recently-announced ordinance under which the seminaries were not allowed to use the name of Deni Madaris and also making it compulsory to obtain no objections certificates before building a mosque or Madressah.

He also criticized the provincial home department for shifting prisoners to other over-crowded jails in the districts, before building the new Peshawar Central Jail in Jalozai. The Khatib was flanked by prayer-leader of Abdullah Ibn-i-Masood mosque Qari Samiullah Jan Farooqi, Secretary-General of Anjuman Tablegh-i-Quran-o-Sunnat Irshadul Haque Madani and other prayer-leaders of the city mosques.

MADARIS’ ORDINANCE: The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI) has asked the government to review the proposed Madaris ordinance and do away with the interest, controlling the national economy.

The JUI central leader, Maulana Ataur Rehman, addressing a protest rally here the other day, warned the government of serious consequences if the proposed ordinance was not withdrawn, and demanded that the Madaris be exempted from registration. He also rejected the formation of Madaris boards at federal and provincial levels.

The JUI and other religious organisations staged a protest rally against the ordinance, the Supreme Court verdict about Riba and the demolition of mosque in the premises of Peshawar central jail.

The rally, led by Maulana Ataur Rehman and other leaders, was taken out from Qasim Ali Khan mosque. The protesters burnt the US flag in Qissa Khwani Bazaar.