FAISALABAD: Religious scholars at a conference on Wednesday stressed the need to promote peace and brotherhood for national progress and prosperity. The conference was held at Gol Masjid, Ghulam Muhammad Abad.
Speakers said that peace was imperative for rapid development. They also condemned suicide attacks and terrorism activities using the name of Islam and demanded implementation of the ban on propagation of hate material.
Speaking on the occasion, self-proclaimed chairman of the Pakistan Ulema Council, Sahibzada Zahid Mehmood Qasmi, said that some forces wanted to create rifts in the society on ethnic and linguistic basis. Qasmi said that some international forces were hatching conspiracies to shatter Muslim unity as they had done it in Iraq and Syria where earlier al Qaeda was dominating and now the Islamic State was carrying out terrorist attacks. “Enemies of Islam are trying their best to divide the Muslim Ummah on sectarian basis,” he warned.
In his address, Maulana Shah Nawaz Farooqi said that anti-Islamic forces were using various tactics to sabotage the peaceful atmosphere in the country. He said that their main target was to influence the youth, especially students, to create unrest and sectarian differences in Pakistan.
Another cleric Maulana Abdur Rasheed Hajazi said that Islam is a religion of peace and tranquillity. It is need of the hour to promote its valuable teachings in the world.
Muhammad Tayyab Advocate said that peace was a prerequisite for national progress. “Pakistan has experienced the toughest situation due to suicide attacks and bomb blasts during the last few years. “Anti-state elements did not even spare mosques and imambargahs and painted them red with the blood of the innocent people.” He said that the Pakistan Army had taken the right step to launch operations Zarb-e-Azb and Radd-ul-Fasaad, which had eliminate the terrorist network in the country to a large extent. He, however, called for collective efforts for eradication of sectarianism from the society once and for all.
Faisalabad District Bar Association Secretary Mian Tahir Mehran said that the lawyers’ community would not allow anyone to defame Islam and vowed to support the Pakistan Army for solidarity and sovereignty of Pakistan.
Later, a unanimous proclamation was also presented in the conference, which condemned unrest, lawlessness and terrorism in the country.
Published in Daily Times, September 28th 2017.
