A meeting of the Council for Islamic Ideology (CII) turned violent on Tuesday as a scuffle broke out between council chairman Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani and Maulana Tahir Ashrafi.
According to Express News, participants of the meeting were discussing the status of Ahmadis under the Constitution when Ashrafi and Sherani entered into an argument that turned personal and violent.
As the two argued, Ashrafi lunged at Sherani and grabbed him by his collar as the latter called him ‘an alcoholic.’ Participants in the meeting had to intervene to diffuse the situation.
Addressing the media after the scuffle, Maulana Ashrafi questioned, “The matter pertaining to Ahmadis is already present in the Constitution so why is he touching on this topic again?”
“I thought the discussion was over but then he came up to me and grabbed me by the collar,” Ashrafi further said. Defending his stance, the Pakistan Ulema Council chairman upheld, ”Regardless of any person being a non-Muslim, it is clearly stated in the Constitution and in Islam that violence against such persons will not be tolerated.”
“Maulana Sherani has many questions to answer. He needs to explain why it is okay for him to grab someone by the collar as we observed today,” he added.
The CII is a constitutional body that advises the legislature whether or not a certain law is repugnant to Islam, in particular to the Quran and Sunna. According to Maulana Ashrafi, the topic of Ahmadis was not on today’s agenda of the meeting; however, Maulana Sherani brought it up leading to a scuffle.
