Archbishop of Canterbury says war is failure of diplomacy

ISLAMABAD: Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said peace would only come when we are honest with each other and with ourselves.

“We need to talk about the difficult issues between us. We all need to learn to argue and disagree with a spirit of understanding the issues and with a resolve to solve those issues. Let’s be courageous,” he said while speaking at a dinner-reception hosted by Pakistan Ulema Council chairman and PM’s Special Representative for Interfaith Harmony and Middle East Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi and president of the Church of Pakistan Bishop Azad Marshall here Sunday for visiting Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby arrived on a three-day visit to Pakistan, and reached Islamabad Sunday after visiting Lahore and Peshawar. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby is expected to meet President Dr Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Imran Khan and COAS Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa today (Monday).

The dinner-reception was also attended by British High Commissioner Dr Christian Turner, religious scholars including Pir Muhammad Naqib-ur-Rehman, Muhammad Hassan Haseeb-ur-Rehman and other religious scholars, diplomats and officials.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said he had a privilege of having breakfast in a mosque in Lahore, where he inaugurated a Peace Centre and also opened another one in Peshawar. He said war is failure of diplomacy and war in Ukraine is failure and result of Russian invasion. He said we have to listen to each other and speak truth to each other, “We are facing problems of extremism and Christian extremism, Muslim extremism, Jewish extremism and Hindu extremism and also Buddhism extremism in Myanmar. He stressed the need to learn to argue and learn to disagree with passion. Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi welcomed archbishop for visiting Pakistan on behalf of the government, people of Pakistan, religious scholars and all sections of society.

He said Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby is a teacher for us and playing a leading role for world peace and for interfaith harmony. He said misuse of blasphemy law was contained as during last two years, a reduction has been witnessed regarding blasphemy cases in the country. He said leadership of different religious schools of thought played a positive role in keeping check on misuse of blasphemy issues and cases.

Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi said he claimed that not a single case has been registered in the last one year in the whole country in view of the misuse of the blasphemy law. “During last one year, we solved more than 132 case, we have complaint of forced marriages and conversions and not a single of blasphemy in Pakistan,” he added. He said cases of blasphemy come to Muttahida Ulema Board and out of 117 cases 113 were resolved while warnings issued regarding fake cases. “Islam is clear you cannot force anyone to accept Islam forcefully,” he further added.

He said we promise that we are committed to peace; all prophets gave one message which is message of peace. British High commissioner Dr Christian Turner stressed the need for interfaith harmony and unity for prosperous future. Maulana Ziaullah Shah Bukhari appreciated the efforts of Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) for interfaith harmony. “Minorities are safe in Pakistan,” he added.