Saudi Arabia had banned the Tablighi Jamaat two weeks ago. It is a trans-national Sunni Islamic movement which Riyadh said posed a danger to society.
The Saudi regime had called Tablighi Jamaat a gate to terrorism while prohibiting all its activities on Saudi soil. However, Pakistan has passed a resolution supporting the Tablighi Jamaat in which what is believed to be a tit-for-tat move on Tuesday.
The Punjab assembly in Pakistan where PM Imran Khan’s party PTI is in majority unanimously adopted a resolution calling the Tablighi Jamaat a force for good and a non-political peaceful organisation.
The gesture of solidarity with the Tablighi Jamaat is being widely seen as a retaliatory move against Saudi Arabia.
The statement said: “Tablighi Jamaat is a global organisation. It has nothing to do with terrorism. History has shown that these people have never been involved in such activities. They are earning goodwill for Pakistan with the preaching of Islam all over the world.”
However, in January 2016 the Punjab assembly had banned Tablighi Jamaat from universities. It had also banned it from mosques surrounding all universities since lawmakers thought the Tablighi Jamaat was sympathetic towards terror outfits and would try to mislead young students
However, five years on, the Punjab assembly is praising the Tablighi Jamaat lauding it for bringing goodwill to Pakistan.
Pak PM Imran Khan has recently struck peace deals with almost every extremist outfit in Pakistan. PM Imran Khan recently struck a failed ceasefire agreement with the Tehreek-e-Taliban. The former Pakistan cricketer also bowed to the demands of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik.
Pakistan will be facing another election in 2023, therefore Imran Khan is looking is eyeing his vote bank.
In 2010 a massacre had unfolded at a mosque in Lahore in which 94 Ahmadiyya Muslims were killed after being taken hostage. The minister of law in the Punjab province went on record to state that the attack was facilitated by members of the Tablighi Jamaat.
Moreover, Pakistan’s own security analysts have written in detail about how former missionaries of Tablighi Jamaat have formed some of the most dreaded terror outfits like the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen.
Pakistan’s own investigators have said that the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen was formed by former members of the Tablighi Jamaat.
