MYC urges govt to highlight ‘Paigham-e-Pakistan’

ISLAMABAD: Milli Yakjehti Council (MYC) Deputy Secretary General and noted scholar Saqib Akbar Saturday called on the government to accord due importance to the vital document ‘Paigham-e-Pakistan’ (PeP), regretting both the government and the media had ignored it so far.

Saqib, who also heads a research institute, Al-Basira, emphasised that the government should also give importance to the recommendations forwarded to it, by the Council of Islamic Ideology(CII) with regards to the ‘Paigham-e -Pakistan’ (narrative).

He said in a statement issued here that the council had also supported the PeP document, which carried signatures of leading over 1800 muftis and religious scholars, aimed at elimination of the menace of terrorism, reflecting the fact how important the document was. He emphasised that this had also manifested national consensus on thereon.

Whereas, he pointed out that during his visit to Pakistan, the grand mufti of Egypt, Dr Shawki Ibrahim Abdel Karim Allam had also extended support to the PeP document.

Saqib Akbar said that the CII recommendations were highly commendable and must be appreciated by all and sundry. These recommendations, he explained, included that ‘Paigham-e-Pakistan’ should be discussed in the National Assembly, the Senate as well as the four provincial assemblies and legislation should be done in the light of this national narrative.

CII also emphasised that the process of projection and promotion of ‘Paigham-e-Pakistan’ in seminaries and other educational institutions should be taken forward and the Higher Education Commission should play its role for making it a part of their syllabi.

The government, it recommended, should organise seminars in Islamabad and the four provincial capitals and also other major cities for introduction and publicity of the national narrative by inviting scholars, belonging to all schools of Muslim thought so that the pulpit and other forums could help public comprehend it.

Moreover, the council recommended that the PeP should be made formal part of syllabi and scholars, professors and teachers should teach it to students in such a manner that they could understand its message in the light of Shariah and law.

The council recommended to the government that ‘Paigham-e-Pakistan’ be made part of a public dialogue and the media should be given direction to project it and be printed at large scale for circulation among masses.