LA HOR E: Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan on Tuesday told the Punjab Assembly that his remarks in a television talk show were misconstrued and he had actually said that the Constitution provides full religious freedom to all the minorities in Pakistan but this could not be given to Ahmadis as they do not consider themselves a minority.

`That is why the government had recently proceeded against a journal of Ahmadis,` the minister said while clarifying his position with regard to his alleged remarks about the community ina talk show, on the prompting of Khatam-i-Nabuwat Tehrik chief Maulana Ilyas Chinioti.

He said the constitution guaranteed protection to the life and property of the minorities which the government was providing.

Mr Chinioti was supported by Leader of the Opposition Mian Mehmoodur Rashid and Jamaati-Islami MPA Dr Waseem Akhtar in the assertion that no conspiracy against the constitutional provision of declaring Ahmadis a minority could be tolerated, and those who had changed the oath for parliamentarians with regard to their belief in Khatam-i-Nabuwat should be punished.

Rana Sanaullah said it was nec-essary for every Muslim to fully believe in the finality of the Prophethood of Hazrat Muhammad (Peace be upon him).

In fact believing this was the first condition of becoming Muslim.

This too had been clearly mentioned in the Constitution and it was out of question to change this.

`There is absolutely no second thought on the Khatam-i-Nabuwat concept,` he declared.

He said it was the duty of ulema (religious scholars) to removeapprehensionsexpressed about this issue as it was out of question to change this basic condition of Khatam-i-Nabuwat.

`Pakistani Muslims like their brethren in the subcontinent have been on the forefront ofcondemning any blasphemy against the Prophet (Peace be upon him) anywhere in the world,` he said.

The minister said his talk on television was misconstrued as it was minus the question, creating ambiguity about his stance. The debate was presented without any reference to the context,` he declared.

The minister asked Maulana Chinioti and others to bring into the notice the steps they wanted the government to take for the protection of Khatam-i-Nabuwat, and for the punishment of those who had changed the oath for parliamentarians. The government would follow recommendations by the Khatam-i-NabuwatTehrik in their true spirit, he said.

`The government has already corrected the mistake (removal of the oath related controversy). It would also follow in toto the recommendations of the committee constituted to find out whether the change was erroneous or deliberate, he declared.

Earlier, Maulana Chinioti urged the minister to clarify his position with regard to the Ahmadis who, he said, were nonMuslims. He urged Mr Nawaz Sharif to take action against those found guilty of changing the oath for parliamentarians even if they were close to him.

The government should intro-duce a religion column in the national identity cards for identifying who is who, he demanded.

Dr Waseem Akhtar declared the change in the oath a blasphemy which, he said, would not be tolerated. Those who did that should be exposed and taken to tasl(, he said.

Mian Mehmoodur Rashid said changes were being made in Pakistan secretly even in textbooks regarding Khatam-iNabuwat. Even the issue of changing the blasphemy law was raised. But the change in the oath invited wrath of people and there would have been a huge trouble had the government not taken a corrective measure, he said.