Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has urged religious scholars to support and stand by the government in its efforts to purge the country from the scourge of terrorism and extremism. Talking to delegation of Ulema and Mashaikh in Islamabad, he said, “Pakistan is first and we all have to make collective efforts for its development and prosperity.” In connection with Defence Day, he categorically stated that anybody who takes arms against the state is a terrorist and the state will deal with such elements with iron hand. He said killing innocent people in the name of religion has nothing to do with Islam and Islamic teachings. The interior minister emphasised terrorists and extremists to lay down weapons and accept writ of the State and the Constitution.