Interfaith harmony week commences today

Islamabad : As part of its celebrations for World Interfaith Harmony Week (WIHW) 2019 of United Nations, Universal Interfaith Peace Mission (UIPM) announced different events starting February 1 till February 22, 2019, says a press release.

Recognizing that the moral imperatives of all religions, convictions and beliefs to call for peace, tolerance and mutual understanding, UIPM Chairman Allama Dr GR Chishti announced the WIHW celebration events at a press conference at UIPM Head Office, New Sohan, Islamabad on Thursday in which he highlighted the importance of interfaith harmony for global peace and prosperity.

The WIHW is being celebrated by UIPM in collaboration with United Religious Initiative Multi-Cooperation Circle Islamabad and Common Word Pakistan. During the programmes, UIPM has already set up an Advisory Council for those interested in participating in the WIHW and UIPM will guide them as what kind of events they could organize. Besides UIPM on his helpline 0301-5055014 will also guide the aspirants as how to register for the event and make an attempt to win the prestigious award of WIHW. DR Chishti pointed out that World Interfaith Harmony Week was first proposed by His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan and it was first adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 October 2010. From 2011, it has been celebrated as an International Week for Interfaith Harmony worldwide. The king honours the winners with medals and cash prizes of US$50,000. “The UIPM won the award in 2015, therefore we want to share our experience with those who want to hold and interfaith harmony week event and guide them through the process of registration. For this purpose on has to visit https://worldinterfaithharmonyweek.com/how-to-participate/ the official website of World Interfaith Harmony Week and fill the information in the portal and after filling in the required form with description of the event, time, date, city and country the person has to submit his form at the website on the given link. Their event will appear in the WIHW celebrations calendar.

During the celebrations of WOHW, UIPM Chairman Dr Chishti on his regular weekly show Roze-e-Roshan on Friday (February 1)will shed light on ‘Hafta-e-Ham Ahangi’, at 7:10 a.m. and later in the afternoon will deliver a sermon at Jamia Masjid Mai Saleem Akhtar on the subject of Common Word and Amman Message.

On February 3, Dr Chishti will deliver a lecture on Role of Women in highlighting Interfaith Harmony at an event organised by Saba Trust at Wah Cantonment in collaboration with Universal Interfaith Peace Mission, while on February 7, Dr Chishti will be delivering a lecture at a seminar titled ‘Interfaith Harmony Dialogue in Modern Era’ at the Department of Islamic Studies and Research Centre, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan. On February 22, UIPM will be organising a Common Word Conference at World Peace Centre, New Sohan, Islamabad. MNA and Advisor to Prime Minister Ali Nawaz Awan will be the chief guest while His Eminence Joseph Coutts, Archbishop of Karachi and Pakistani Prelate of the Catholic Church will be the guest of honour. Diplomats, high officials and people from different walks of life and schools of thought will attend the conference.