Scholars from different religions and faiths on Saturday called for unity among all communities and urged the government to create an atmosphere at the provincial and national levels where everyone could play an active role in the promotion of peace and peaceful coexistence and open dialogue in order to counter negative thoughts.
Sharing a stage in front of diverse audience at an interactive seminar – Interfaith Harmony – held here at the Punjabi Complex, they discussed role of religious institutions in promoting interfaith harmony and the encouragement of interfaith acceptability through better coordination between different faiths.
Expressing their views, Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) member Mufti Raghib Hussain Naeemi, Archbishop Sebastian Francis Shaw, Bishop Azad Marshal, Baha’i community member Dr Faramarz Roshani, Father Nadeem Francis, Hindu leader Amarnath Randhawa, and Sikh scholar Prof Kalyan Singh urged the people to develop the spirit of coexistence by maintaining religious harmony and peace.
On the occasion, all the speakers signed a resolution of peace as an agreement towards ensuring interfaith harmony, and declared that they would work with the government in promoting peaceful coexistence. Also, a thorough discussion was witnessed on the importance of implementation of the laws including the National Action Plan (NAP), Hate Speech Ordinance, and others.
Addressing the audience, Archbishop Sebastian Shaw said that dialogue was important in order to walk on the path of truth and peace. “We need to respect a person on the basis of humanity. “I should tell you that never has it happened that anyone would have asked me to change my religion nor have we ever asked anyone to change theirs,” he said.
Mufti Raghib Naeemi suggested dialogue and open discussions on all faiths through similar platforms to ensure interfaith harmony and coexistence. “Islam does not teach aggression and no one is allowed to force people from other faiths to convert to this religion,” he said, adding that tension and conflict arises when someone targets other faiths. “It is important to negate such conflict by having educational debates with learned people from all faiths,” he said.
Sharing his views, Bishop Azad Marshal said that Pakistan was made with an idea that it would be a Muslim majority state, but it will not be intolerant towards other religions and faiths. “Interfaith harmony is our need and it will come when we will have tolerance and acceptability for each other,” he said.
