Zahid Ali Lone, the spokesperson of Jamaat-e-Islami, said that Pakistanis are still not ready to have an Islamic government in their country. On Thursday, Zahid took to Facebook to voice his opinion on the possibilities of Imran Khan being elected the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Zahid had posted on Facebook that even if Pakistanis are Muslims, they are still not ready to accept an Islamic government. He had earlier invited a barrage of heated comments when he wrote that Pakistan has rejected Islam by choosing Imran Khan as their Prime Minister. He had, however, deleted the controversial post later.
"Pakistani people proved beyond doubt that they never like Islamic system of life though they call themselves MUSLIMS! Virtually they inadvertently rejected Islam," Zaid had written in the Facebook post.
Zahid had come under the line of fire from social media users who criticised him and his organisation for the post. A local journalist commented that Jamaat and their ilk have become like BJP dictating terms on who should be Muslims and who should be Hindus.
Shiekh Showkat Hussain, a law professor, said that he found the comments absurd as choosing a particular party or electing a leader has nothing to do with the religion. He added that the Jamaat has discredited itself as an organization by aligning with almost every other party for the sake of power in Pakistan.
What is Jamaat-e-Islami?
Jamaat-e-Islami is one of the oldest politico-religious organization in Pakistan with its offshoot in Jammu and Kashmir. At the time of its formation, the organization mainly engaged in social, educational and cultural activities. However, Jamaat-e-Islami later took to the political front with a moderate Islamist view.
After the 1950s, the Jamaat is believed to have been influenced by the Wahabi concept of Islam following which it presented itself as a right-wing Muslim organization. The Jamaat has always stood by the merger of Kashmir with Pakistan and in the early 90s when the armed insurgency broke, the militant wing of Jamaat called J&K liberation front(JKLF) came into existence. Many members of JKLF had even crossed over to Pakistan for arms training.
