Islamabad: A gathering of religious scholars has deemed suicide attacks as opposing Islamic teachings and rejected the Taliban-style harsh punishments as inhuman, illegal, and against Sharia.
"We reject the Taliban code of so-called Islamic law which was being imposed at gunpoint, and demand the government to restore peace and normalcy in the troubled Swat region, while completing the ongoing military operation to attain maximum results," the congregation held in Pakistan capital Islamabad said through a resolution.
"We condemn the Taliban terrorism in Malakand Division, and urge some religious and political forces sympathetic to the Taliban, not to support these fanatics who want to harm the country to achieve their ulterior motives," a resolution adopted by the gathering comprising mostly of majority Sunni sect scholars said.
Majority of moderate Pakistanis were shocked during the last few months as the Taliban in Swat and tribal areas of the country carried out punishments like flogging and slitting throats as the government writ ended in these restive areas.
The suicide attacks in towns in urban areas of the country, as well as bombing of shrines also repelled a commanding majority of Pakistanis from the Taliban who were earlier overlooked and sometimes sympathised with as hardline religious elements struggling against rising American influence in the country.
The religious scholars led by Sahibzada Fazle Karim and Mufti Munibur Rehman announced to hold the next religious scholars' convention in Peshawar.
