A group of clerics and religious scholars have issued a fatwa or edict that says 'jehad' will be obligatory for every Pakistani citizen in the event of any attack on the country by India.

The fatwa was announced at a conference organised by the Tahaffuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat Mahaz at Jamia Naeemia seminary in Lahore on Monday. The meeting, chaired by Federal Minister Noorul Haq Qadri, was arranged to discuss Pakistan's security concerns in the face of ‘Indian war threats’.

Besides declaring that jehad would be obligatory for all Pakistanis in case of an attack by India, a communiqué issued by the clerics said the Pakistan government should end its support to the US war on terror on the western border in case of hostilities with India.

The conference demanded that Pakistan should "shrug off the Indian pressure and adopt a courageous and independent stance befitting a sovereign state". The clerics called on the government to "unveil the Indian conspiracies hatched against Pakistan before the world".

The communiqué said the clerics and scholars reaffirmed the "belief that the basic purpose of Pakistan's nuclear capability was to ensure the security of the country against any foreign aggression".

Pakistan valued its nuclear scientists, particularly A Q

Khan, the communiqu said. Besides the nuclear capability and defence preparations, the security of any country depended on its internal stability, it stated.

Jamia Naeemia's principal Sarfraz Naeemi said the TNRM will organise a rally in Lahore on January 14 to condemn the "anti-Muslim and aggressive policies" of Israel and India.

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