KARACHI - Federal Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Minister Aneeq Ahmed Thursday announced that the government under its endeavour to promote interfaith harmony will organise awareness sessions on the subject in rural areas especially in schools and colleges across the country.
He was addressing a seminar titled “Religious Minorities and Interfaith Social Tolerance in Pakistan” organised by Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony in collaboration with Iqra University Karachi.
The minister, speaking at the occasion, said that all human beings were family of Almighty Allah and he taught mankind through his last Prophet Muhammad (SAW) to be kind and polite in their dealings.
Prophet Muhammad’s (SAW) teachings on tolerance, embedded in the conquest of Mecca and Treaty of Hudebia, should always be kept in mind while dealing with the people of different faiths, Aneeq Ahmed stated, adding that the hearts of non-Muslim brothers could be won through kindness and politeness rather than misplaced arguments.
While expressing condemnation on incidents like Jaranwala, he said that if anyone receives information about any act of blasphemy one must verify and report it to higher authorities instead of taking the law into hands and resorting to violence.
The minister commended the role of Ulema for raising voices against the intolerable acts in society and uttered that the message of interfaith harmony should be disseminated through knowledge and evidence.
Aneeq Ahmed said that the ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony was organising a series of awareness events on interfaith harmony in cities, particularly in higher education institutions.
Naib Raees Dar ul Ifta, Jamia Islamia Karachi, Mufti Abubakar Mohiuddin, while sharing his thoughts said that subjects like social tolerance were crucial to be discussed among new generations. He stressed that no religion taught hatred and negativity among its believers.
Patron-in-chief of Pakistan Sikh Council, Sardar Ramesh Singh said that the beauty of Pakistan lay in the fact that all the citizens of this country live with basic rights.
Manoj Chouhan, the representative of the Hindu Community in Karachi, stated that every human has his or her own religious beliefs. He further said that all the human beings were worthy of respect regardless of religion.
Cardinal Joseph Coutts, Cardinal Pope of the Vatican and Archdiocese of Karachi thanked the Government of Pakistan for organising awareness events to disseminate a message of interfaith harmony. He believed that such government level endeavours would build up a strong society in Pakistan.
Vice Chancellor Iqra University Prof Dr Nassar said that the students at IU were taught to respect everyone irrespective of different cultures and religions and young university students were the torchbearers of a tolerant society in Pakistan.
He expressed gratitude to Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Aneeq Ahmed for organising events on interfaith harmony in academic centres.
Later, the federal minister and other guests were presented the memento shields after the seminar.
