NEW YORK: Pakistan on Wednesday underscored the need for concrete steps to combat Islamophobia and hate speeches.
This was stated by Pakistan’s permanent representative Maleeha Lodhi while addressing in a special meeting of the UN in New York.
Lodhi said an inevitable consequence is to fan the flames of bigotry, intolerance, anti-Muslim hatred and xenophobia.
She said Prime Minister Imran Khan, has recently called for urgent action to counter Islamophobia, which is today the most prevalent expression of racism and hatred against ‘the other’.
On the occasion, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the UN Strategy and Plan of Action provides a system-wide programme with the overriding objective of identifying, preventing and confronting hate speech.
On April 3, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution titled “Countering terrorism and other acts of violence based on religious and belief”, against the backdrop of a terror attack on two Christchurch mosques in New Zealand.
It strongly condemned continuing violence and acts of terrorism targeting individuals, including persons belonging to religious minorities, based on religion or belief.
The resolution came during a meeting convened in the wake of the horrific mosques attack, in which 50 people were killed and 50 others injured in March.
The resolution proposed by Turkey and co-sponsored by Pakistan urged all countries to protect and promote freedom of religion and belief and to foster a domestic environment of religious tolerance, peace and respect.