ISLAMABAD: On Friday, President Dr Arif Alvi urged the West to be mindful of the sentiments of Muslims while pursuing the notion of freedom of expression so as to promote interfaith harmony.
“Creation of hatred in the clothing of freedom of speech is something the West has to look upon to increase cooperation among Islam, Christianity, and all other religions,” he said in his virtual address at a conference titled ‘Promoting Interfaith Understanding’.
The conference was organized by Ambassador (retd) Akbar S. Ahmed holding the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University, in Washington DC to promote an understanding of Islam and the Muslim world in the United States and encourage interfaith dialogue.
President Alvi said that, in Europe, it was a crime to talk about certain ethnic atrocities of the past, similarly, the love of Muslims for their Prophet was of utmost significance.
He mentioned that the act of making blasphemous caricatures in the name of freedom of expression was painful for Muslims, which the West needed to be careful about.
President Alvi said throughout the history of humankind, a conflict between religions translated into bias, which resulted in policy-making on the basis of prejudices.
As humanity faced dangers such as global warming and pandemic, he said, it was important to encourage tolerance towards each other.
“[As mankind] We need to adjust our way of living, rewrite the history which misguides us and also rewrite the future of cooperation and peace,” he said.
The president said Pakistan was a land with its roots embedded in the history of several multi-faith civilizations, including Mohenjodara, Harappa, Mehrgadh, and Buddhism.
He mentioned that as the State was established, the founder of Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had declared full religious freedom for people going to their places of worship, may its mosques, temples, churches, or synagogues.
He said Pakistan was committed to continuing protecting the rights of religious minorities in the country to promote interfaith harmony.
President Alvi, however, pointed out the dangerous precedent in India of marginalizing minorities through legislation including discrimination between Hindus and Muslims, thus leading to interfaith friction.
He regretted that the world over, hatred was being encouraged to fulfill a particular political dialogue against other countries.
The biggest misconception happening in the world is fake news, which needs to be countered, he added.
Amid the flood of information on social media, he said, the new generation must be able to differentiate between truth and fake news.
Dr. Alvi stressed that to reduce tension and conflicts among communities, it was important to bring people together and stimulate their minds towards achieving the goals of interfaith harmony.
He condemned using religion as a tool of terrorism and extremism to target other people.
He lauded the effort of Ibn Khaldun chair of Islamic Studies at the American University, expressing confidence that it would encourage positive discussions on various issues regarding interfaith understanding and religious harmony.
Ambassador Akbar S. Ahmed, Dean School of International Service, Christine Chin, and Assistant Director Kate Arion, and the faculty and students of American University joined the virtual session.
