Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed has said that Pakistan has a very dynamic and pluralist society which exhibits peace, prosperity and co-existence. Obama’s visit to a mosque in USA is a positive omen as the western community also condemns Islamophobia and prejudices on the bases of creed, cast and religion; labelling and reshaping the facts by media must be stopped.
He expressed these views while addressing an international interdisciplinary conference on “Grassroots Approaches to US-Pakistan Relations” organized by Iqbal International Institute for Research and Dialogue (IIIRD) of International Islamic University (IIUI) and Intersections International of United States of America (USA).
The first session of the conference was also addressed by Mr. Reverend Robert Chase, Founding Director Intersections International USA and Dr. Ahmed Yousif Al-Driaweesh President IIUI. The moot witnessed prudent discussion on peace, education and different aspects of Pak-US relations by prominent American and Pakistani academicians and religious leaders and international relations specialists. Mushahid Hussain very briefly threw light on the historical background of US-Pakistan relations, its development and evolution with circumstantial upheavals. He stressed to have collective approach to address common enemies of humanity saying terrorism, extremism and violent attitudes have no room in Islam or any religion of the world.
In his welcome address Dr. Ahmad Yousif said true Muslim leaderships always struggled for world peace and brotherhood and they are bind with core objective to struggle for promoting peace and harmony. “Role of the religious leaderships in international peace and security is among the important issues that imperatively need to be discussed at such forums”. He further added. Dr. Al-Draiweesh was of the view that every community needs to redefine its approaches and must strengthen human values with true sense of justice, tolerance and pluralist thoughts.
Reverend Robert Chase was pleased to be a participant of such an important cause. He wished to have more dialogues and interactions with scholars of both the countries to bring the people close. Dr. Talib Hussain Sial Director Programs IRD thanked all the guests and participants of the conference while saying that the conference would help to promote and strengthen the public opinion about US Pakistan Relations.
