Speakers underline religious harmony during Muharram

PESHAWAR: Speakers at a conference have underlined the need for religious and sectarian harmony during the month of Muharram.They were addressing a moot arranged by the Pakistan Council of World Religions, which is locally known as Faith Friends Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Sarhad University Vice-chancellor Dr Saleemur Rehman was the chief guest on the occasion. Chairman of the council and a former provincial minister for religious affairs, Maulana Roohullah Madani, presided over.

Samia Raheel Qazi, a member of the Islamic Ideological Council, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government Additional Secretary Muhammad Anwar Khan were the guests of honour. A noted cultural activist and columnist, Dr Salahddin, moderated the proceedings of the conference which was attended by representatives from different faiths and Muslim schools of thought.

Among the speakers were member of the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, Maulana Dr
 Hafiz Abdul Ghafoor, Maulana Fakhrul Hassan Kararvi, a member of the Government of Pakistan Religious Harmony Committee, Maqsood Ahmad Salafi, Bishop of Peshawar, Humphrey Sarfaraz Peters, Hindu community leader Haroon Sarab Diyal and Sikh leader Charan Jeet Singh. The speakers said the month of Muharram gave us the lesson of love, unity, sacrifice for the glory of the religion and standing up to the divisive forces.

They said it was a sacred month and Islam had always called for protecting its sanctity. Those at the function said that Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA) offered a supreme sacrifice and recalling that sacrifice gave us the lesson of brotherhood and unity.

They lamented that some elements had disturbed the religious and sectarian harmony to the extent that today we even could not mark that great sacrifice together at a madressah, masjid or imambargah.

The participants at the end of the conference resolved to play own roles in maintaining peace, religious and sectarian harmony in Peshawar along with rest of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.