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Fundamentalist groups do not believe in terrorism: Pakistani lawmaker
July 15, 2003 15:14 IST
Last Updated: July 16, 2003 01:48 IST
"War is no solution to any problem and fundamentalist groups in Pakistan do not believe in any kind of terrorism and bloodshed. They all want to live in peace," the leader of a Pakistani delegation, now in India on a goodwill visit, said.
"It is a goodwill trip and will help promote understanding and realisation that all issues between the two countries can be settled through a purposeful dialogue," Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, who heads the hardline Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, said in Amritsar.
He is leading a four-member delegation, which is on a weeklong visit to India at the invitation of the Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind.
Other members of the delegation are JuI vice-president Hafeez Hussain Ahmed and fellow parliamentarians Gul Naseeb and Qazi Hamidullah.
"We are here to convey to the Indian masses not to nurse any kind of misgivings about the fundamentalists based in Pakistan. We got a massive mandate from a sizeable section of the Pakistani society to air their voice in the assembly, besides finding plausible solutions to their problems," Rehman said after crossing the border at Wagah on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Rehman met Akal Takht Jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
The meeting was held in a very cordial atmosphere, Rehman told reporters at the information centre of the Golden Temple.
"I invited Vedanti to visit Pakistan to which he responded positively," he added.
He sought to dispel Indian misgivings about fundamentalist groups saying they play a key role in the stabilisation of the political system in Pakistan.
During his five-day visit to India, Rehman said he would visit Malerkotla, which has a sizeable Muslim population, besides Sirhind and Delhi, where he hoped to meet Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajyapee.