‘Easy access to hate literature’ main cause behind rising extremism in Pakistan: Ashrafi

LAHORE - The easy availability of instigating literature in Pakistani markets is the core reason behind the rising extremism in the country, Pakistan Ulema Counsel (PUC) Chairman Allama Tahir Ashrafi has said.

Speaking on a TV programme, Ashrafi condemned Tuesday’s bomb blast in Lahore, which took over ten lives and left several others injured, and said nobody in Pakistan mulled over the post-9/11 rising wave of terrorism in the country.

Literature and CDs spreading hatred against all schools of thought were easily available in the market, he said, adding that no authority in the country took action in this regard.

Ashrafi rued that although Pakistan was founded in the name of Islam, there was no true Muslim in the country at present, the Daily Times reported.

Followers of every sect considered the others ‘kafirs’ (non-believers) or issued edicts alleging others of blasphemy because the authorised ulema were silent over such issues, said the PUC chief, urging them to lead the people onto the right path, as uneducated maulvis were leading Pakistan’s society towards bloodshed.

Ashrafi also said it was easy to blame India, America or any other country but the real issue was that ‘our own citizens’ were being brainwashed and used against fellow countrymen, adding that the situation was created in the 1980s when attempts were made to replicate the Iranian Revolution in the country.

Ashrafi also said that religion was being politicised, and that ulema and the media should play a positive role. All schools of thought were equally responsible for the current situation, as none spared the other, he added. (ANI)