MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly Speaker Shah Ghulam Qadir has stressed on the need for forging unity in order to thwart nefarious designs of the enemy and establish peace as well as, ensuring stability in the country.
“Pakistan is a great gift by Allah Almighty for us and we all are obliged to protect it against all odds,” he told the inaugural ceremony of a workshop titled ‘Reconstruction of Inclusive Islamic Society in Pakistan’ held at the AJK University Muzaffarabad.
The event organised in collaboration with the Islamic Research Institute of Islamic International University Islamabad (IIUI) was attended by a huge number of faculty members, ulema, scholars, civil society activists and students.
Addressing the ceremony, organised as part of the Paigham-e-Pakistan initiative of the government of Pakistan, the AJK speaker said that religious groups have a big role to play in society.
“The joint decree issued by ulema belonging to all schools of thought under the Paigham-e-Pakistan initiative is a guarantee of peace and stability in the country,” he said.
“The institution of the mosque should be strengthened. Mosques should act as centres of training for the youth,” he said, adding that those criticising the religious seminaries are oblivious of the fact that these madaris are providing shelter, food and education to hundreds of thousands of poor children.
“Providing jobs to youth graduating from these madaris is the responsibility of the state,” he said. “The state can’t discriminate between those graduating from universities and the ones getting education from madaris,” he said.
The AJK speaker said that Pakistan Army is the most organised institution in the country at present. He said that the sacrifices of security forces in the ongoing war against terrorism are matchless. “But, it is unfortunate that we expect the army to fulfil each and every responsibility that a state needs to do,” he said while adding that the resolution of the Kashmir issue is a guarantee of peace in the whole region.
The AJK speaker also called upon religious scholars to forge unity among their ranks. “The ulema and masses united in Bangladesh for the sake of the development of their country which resulted in growth and progress over there,” he said.
Stating that extremism can bring no good to anyone, Shah Ghulam Qadir said “The Paigham-e-Pakistan decree has declared suicide bombing a forbidden act. University professors and doctors are waging jihad against India in occupied Kashmir and have been offering their lives for many decades but still there is no suicide bombing there,” he said.
Islamic Research Institute Director General (DG) Dr Ziaul Haq said that a nation decays when its leadership is not able to take right decisions at the right time. “The people whom Pakistan provided refuge in the name of Islam are out to destroy it now. The people who were exiled by their own countries but embraced by Pakistan started damaging it through terrorist acts on the behest of hostile agencies. Our youth was misguided. Mosques, madaris, schools and public places were bombed,” he said.
“Paigham-e-Pakistan is a document wherein religious scholars belonging to all schools of thought have rejected extremism and terrorism in all its forms,” he said, adding that minorities are free to spend their lives according to their will and practice their religion. “Islam makes it obligatory for men to respect women and giving them due rights,” he added.
Faculty of Arts Dean Professor Ayesha Sohail said that social imbalances give rise to divisions in a society. “Today’s generation lacks tolerance. Sectarianism has shaken the very foundation of our society,” she said.
“It is the collective responsibility of the educational institutions and the faculty members to train youth on positive lines. Only tolerance, unity and brotherhood can guarantee peace and stability in the society,” she added.
Convener of the workshop Professor Nisar Hamdani said, “We must protect our values to rid the country of injustice, fear and crisis. Prejudices give birth to sectarianism and ethnic divisions. Everyone wishes justice and prosperity in the society and the state is responsible to ensure it.”
The two-day workshop will be followed by the National Youth Conference, a workshop on ‘Role of Youth in Reconstruction of National Culture’, a session on ‘Role of Youth as Ambassadors of Peace’ and a discussion on ‘Environmental Challenges: Water Crises, Clean and Green Pakistan’.