ISLAMABAD: The All Parties Conference (APC) of representatives from religions and political parties on Monday demanded of the government to summon meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and consult the United Nations to ensure legislation for honour of holy figures of all the religions of the world. The demand was made in APC organised by Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) with Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi in the chair here on Monday to discuss blasphemous sketches and the country’s current situation. The meeting was attended by Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Pervaiz Rasheed, President Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Sardar Yaqoob Ahmed and more than 33 representatives from different religious and political parties. The joint declaration issued at the end of the conference said that this conference of the representatives of all the religions and political parties expressed deep sorrow over the publication of blasphemous sketches in France and some other European countries. The joint declaration urged the religious and political leadership of the world to adopt a unanimous stance against sacrilegious sketches for world peace and demanded government of Pakistan to summon OIC meeting and consult the United Nations to ensure legislation for honour of the holy figures of all the religions of the world. The joint conference also urged the international community, particularly the United Nations, European Union and other countries, to determine the freedom of speech according to the statement issued by Pope Francis. “Debasing the holy figures of a religion is akin to hurting the sentiments of the followers of that religion and depriving them of their rights. Therefore, law about honoring all the religious holy figures should be brought to the United Nations and the European Union and other countries should ban newspapers and magazines printing offensive sketches. As freedom of expression does not mean to humiliate holy figures of any religion and the elements that are doing such acts are trying to create clash among different religions and different schools of thought,” the joint declaration stated. To avert this clash, more effective endeavours should be made for inter-faith dialogues on international forums, the declaration said. The declaration stated, “The joint conference believes that the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) are the teachings of love, peace and forbearance. Killing innocent people or depriving them of justice and rights on the basis of their religion or sect is not just and against the teachings of Islam but also the teachings of all other religions.” The joint conference declares that the publication of offensive sketches in France and other European countries is an attempt to sabotage efforts for inter-faith dialogue and forbearance and create hatred among different religions. The parties, organisations and institutions, which are striving for inter-faith and inter-sectarian harmony throughout the world, should pay attention to this matter and come up with a more effective and comprehensive strategy for inter-faith dialogue and forbearance. The joint conference is grateful to Sikh, Hindu, Christian, Parsi and other religious leaders in Pakistan for raising their voice and protesting against the publication of offensive sketches. The gathering believes that by condemning these heinous acts, the representatives of all these religions played a commendable role in promoting unity, harmony and religious forbearance in Pakistan. The joint conference appreciates the statement issued by Pope Francis in response to the publication of offensive sketches and urges Pope Francis and other religious leaders to further bolster their efforts for ensuring that all religious holy figures are honoured. The leaders of all the religions should sit together at international level so that such heinous acts can be stopped. A delegation of this joint conference including representatives from religious and political parties will present resolutions and joint declaration of this meeting to the offices of United Nations and European Union and convey feelings of the Muslims against sacrilegious sketches to the world community. Letters will also be written to the leaders of the world on behalf of this joint conference and a campaign will be launched for legislation to honour the holy figures of all the religions. The joint conference urges Muslims and non-Muslims, who are protesting against offensive sketches throughout the world, to keep their protests peaceful, convey Islam’s message of peace and stability throughout the world, and highlight all aspects of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW). The conference urges Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud and heads of all the Islamic and European countries including China and the United States, to present laws in the United Nations about honoring all the holy prophets and sacred books. The conference strongly condemned the Peshawar tragedy and assured its full cooperation to the Pakistani government and armed forces for the elimination of terrorism and extremism. It assured the families of the martyred children that the Pakistani nation would never forget the martyrs and would collectively strive for the elimination of terrorism and extremism in Pakistan. The participants of the meeting also expressed deep sorrow over the sad demise of Shah Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz. The joint conference was addressed by Siddiq-ul-Farooq, Pir Syed Mehfooz Mashahdi, Ijazul Haq, Pakistan Ulema Council’s Dr Ahmed Ali Siraj, Ali Muhammad Khan of PTI, Arif Hussain Wahidi, Sahibzada Zahid Mehmud Qasmi, Maulana Zubair Anjum, Maulana Sharif Hazarvi, Maulana Abdul Khaliq, Sardar Yaqoob, Malik Hakmeen and Ajmal Wazir.
