Jamaat chief slammed over remarks on slain Taliban chief

KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami chief Munawar Hasan's description of slain Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Hakimullah Mehsud as a "martyr" today drew sharp criticism from political parties like the MQM and PPP.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain was the first to condemn Hasan's statement and he was followed by Pakistan People's Party leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

Mehsud was killed with other militants when a US drone targeted a compound in the lawless North Waziristan region on Friday.

In a statement, Hussain said "every child in Pakistan" knows that 7,000 security personnel and over 40,000 citizens, including clerics and religious scholars, have been killed by the Taliban.

He asked the 'ulema' and scholars whether the "murderer of thousands of innocent citizens" can be called a martyr. "I believe that calling the Taliban leader's death martyrdom is against the teachings of Islam and Prophet Mohammed," he said.

Earlier, PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari criticised Hasan and the Jamaat-e-Islami in a message posted on Twitter

"(Jamaat-e-Islami) proving once again they were always anti-PK & still (are) anti-PK by declaring (Mehsud) shaheed. Some1 shld do 2 'em wht Bangladesh did w/ their JI," he tweeted.

The Jamaat-e-Islami chief said yesterday that Mehsud was a martyr and asked the Taliban to carry on talks with the government.