Maulana Sherani, Ashrafi grab one another's collars 'over Ahmadis' at CII meeting

ISLAMABAD (Staff Report) - A meeting of the Council for Islamic Ideology (CII) turned violent as a scuffle broke out between Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani and Maulana Tahir Ashrafi.

The meeting was called to discuss various matters including sectarian issues.

Sources said the participants were discussing the status of Ahmadis under the Constitution of Pakistan when council chairman Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani and member Maulana Tahir Ashrafi, who is also chairman of the Pakistan Ulema Council, entered into an argument that later turned personal and they reached out for each other’s collars.

Later, addressing a press conference, Ashrafi alleged Maulana Sherani grabbed him by the collar. Condemning the incident, Ashrafi questioned which section or which article of the constitution permits a member of a national institution to behave aggressively in a meeting.

He further said the topic of Ahmadis was not on today’s agenda of the meeting; however, Maulana Sherani brought it up leading to a scuffle.



Sources quoted an eyewitness saying that Ashrafi had first 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.

The session was postponed for an indefinite period of time.

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.