ISLAMABAD: Afghan Taliban are making efforts to convince Pakistani religious scholars to boycott a conference in Indonesia this week. The conference will also be attended by Afghan and Indonesian clerics to press for peace in Afghanistan. The conference on May 11 is likely to issue a joint communiqué against violence in Afghanistan that could be an embarrassment for the Afghan insurgents, who are already under pressure to join intra-Afghan dialogue. The session was earlier scheduled to be held in March but was delayed after the Taliban issued an appeal, urging the clerics to boycott the conference, which they called an “intelligence ploy” by the foreign invaders “as they have faced defeat on the battlefield.” The Taliban had also asked Indonesia not to facilitate such conventions. As the Indonesian and Afghan officials have now officially confirmed that the conference will take place, Taliban are concerned about the outcome of the religious gathering at a time when they have stepped up attacks following the launch of their spring offensive. Taliban are alarmed at the possible participation of Pakistani scholars, particularly some who have long been considered as sympathetic to the insurgents’ cause. Daily Times has seen a Taliban message sent to Pakistani scholars and some other personalities to reach out to the ‘ulema’ and ask them to skip the conference. The message mentioned names of 22 Pakistani personalities who, the Taliban believe, are likely to join Afghan and Indonesian clerics at the first trilateral meeting of scholars to discuss the impact of violence against Afghans. “There are several ulema in the list of participants, who have influence on our country and among the Mujahideen (Taliban) and they enjoy good reputation. If they are encouraged to boycott the conference it would be in our interest and their absence will frustrate the conspiracy,” the Taliban massage said. The Pakistani invitees are mostly those who had delivered a ‘fatwa’ in January this year in which they unanimously declared all forms of terrorism and suicide attacks un-Islamic. The 49-page document, signed by 1,829 clerics from all Islamic schools of thought in the country, was about terrorism in Pakistan only. Afghan president Ashraf Ghani had slammed the edict titled “Paigham-e-Pakistan” or “Pakistan’s Message” and said that Islamic teachings could not be limited to only one country. Kabul has long been pleading for a joint Pakistan-Afghanistan ‘fatwa’ and the issue has been raised in several meetings including Ghani’s meeting with Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa in Kabul in early October, last year. Meanwhile, some Pakistani scholars appear to be in a fix on whether or not to attend the conference because of the Taliban’s opposition. “Our message to the noble scholars is that they avoid participation in such gatherings and do not afford an opportunity to the invading infidels in Afghanistan to misuse their name and participation as means of attaining malicious objectives,” the Taliban said in March. Pakistan Ulema Council chairman Maulna Tahir Ashrafi confirmed to Daily Times that he had received the invitation, but he would skip the event because of other commitments. He, however, said that clerics associated with his organisation supported peace everywhere in the world. Daily Times further learnt that Pakistani invitees were involved in consultations to discuss positive and negative aspects of their participation. The Taliban list contains the names of Maulana Dr Abdul Razaq Sikandar, Mufti Abdul Rahim, Dr Saeed, Sheikh Muhammad Idrees, Mufti Ghulam Rehman, Mufti Aziz ur Rehman Hazarvi, Maulana Taqi Usmani, Sheikh Anwar ul Haq and his son, Mufti Muneeb ur Rehman, Allama Riaz Hussain Najafi, Maualana Tahir Ashrafi, Maulana Zahid Qasmi, Maulana Abdul Malik, Qari Hanif Jalandhry, Dr Qibla Ayaz, Mufti Naeem, Maulana Rafi Usmani, Maulana Fazal ur Rehman Khalil, Prof Sajid Mir, Maualana Yasin Zafar, Dr Munir and Dr Ziaul Haq. Afghanistan is optimistic that the conference will help in the peace process and could exert pressure on the Taliban to end violence. Akram Khpalwak, the secretary of the government-sponsored High Peace Council, has said in reported comments that a 20-member delegation of Afghan scholars would take part in the conference, proposed by Indonesian President Joko Widodo in January. The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) is playing a key role in the meeting. Muhyiddin Junaidi, the head of MUI’s Department of International Relations, said in a statement that Indonesia was chosen to act as a peace mediator, because Afghanistan perceived it as a neutral actor. Pakistan had welcomed the Indonesian move during the visit to Islamabad of Indonesian President Joko Widodo in January this year. President Mamnoon Hussain and his Indonesian counterpart had agreed to work together for peace in the war-shattered Afghanistan. Widodo proposed a joint role of religious scholars of the three nations for peace in Afghanistan. “Pakistan has always played an important role for peace in the neighboring country. Pakistan and Indonesia can jointly promote moderation in the world,” he had stated. Published in Daily Times, May 8th 2018.