NZ martyrs remembered

Lahore: On the call of Pakistan Ulema Council, Friday, March 22, was observed as the day of the martyrs of New Zealand all over Pakistan on Friday.

The Muslim scholars while addressing Friday sermons demanded the religious and political leadership of all the religions and regions of the world to guide the youths towards the path of peace and harmony. The clerics also condemned the murder of a college professor by his student in Bahawalpur. They called for constitution of a judicial commission to investigate the terrorism act from all aspects with an endeavour to avert such incidents of extremism in future. The Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) also announced conferring a peace award upon New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for her sympathetic conduct towards the martyrs and Muslims of New Zealand. PUC Chairman Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi said the peace award would be conferred upon Jacinda Ardern during the fourth International Message of Islam Conference scheduled to be held on April 14, 2019.

Killing innocent people is the biggest sin according to the Islamic teachings. Western leadership harboured terrorism and extremism in the decade of 1990 for their vested interests and no one is safe from this menace today, said clerics at the Friday congregations. They also explicitly stated that Khateeb Hussain who stabbed his teacher to death in Bhawalpur did not do any service to Islam and Muslims by brutally killing the professor.