Wake up to Rohingya atrocities, Shahbaz asks Muslim world, UN

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Tuesday asked the international community, Muslim world and the United Nations to wake up to atrocities being committed on the Rohingya Muslims and pressurise the Myanmar government to act fast.

Expressing these views before his departure for the United Kingdom to inquire after Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, the chief minister termed the Myanmar crisis as a planned cleansing of Muslims and wondered how the world conscience could continue to slumber while innocent men, women and children suffered the most horrendous crimes.

He said, “The persecution of the Muslims in Myanmar represents the most ruthless genocide of a minority community in the recent history.”

The chief minister called for renewed diplomatic efforts aimed at making the international community press the Myanmar government to intervene and take urgent steps to protect the Rohingya Muslims.

Shahbaz added that the plight of the Myanmar Muslims was also a test case for international human right organisations as well as the faith leaders who should make sure that the name of a religion was not used to justify massacre of a people.

“No religion of the world sanctions violence and it is about time that the whole civilised world gets together to protect their core values of humanity and interfaith harmony. Human rights are sacrosanct and we should rise up to safeguard them,” he added.

Separately, Shahbaz said Pak army wrote unparalleled stories of bravery and courage for the country’s defence in 1965. In his message on the Defence Day, he said the month of September had a unique importance because the armed forces had given a befitting reply to the enemy.

“The nation has faced every challenge with consistency from the creation of Pakistan till today and September 6 is a day to pay tributes to the great sacrifices of the martyrs and reiteration of commitment of loyalty to the country.”

He said political and military leadership was fully aware of the conspiracies and tactics of the enemy, adding that that the security and solidarity of the country would be protected at every cost.

“The unique solidarity shown by the political and military leadership for the total destruction of terrorism is a bright chapter in the national history,” said the chief minister. He noted that the PML-N government had made the national defence impregnable by nuclear tests in 1998.

Earlier, Shahbaz expressed satisfaction over foolproof security arrangements on Eid-ul-Azha. He congratulated the Cabinet Committee on Law and Order, police and law enforcement agencies, and appreciated the performance of concerned authorities for taking effective steps for the protection of life and property of the citizens.