Activists, minorities’ representatives call for promoting interfaith harmony

Speakers at the media launch of public service messages for television and radio on Wednesday stressed the need for maintaining peace and ensuring interfaith and intersect harmony in society. They asked the mainstream and social media to play an effective role for inter-faith harmony in Pakistani society for the progress and prosperity of the country.

The event organised by The Knowledge Forum (TKF) in collaboration with the Sindh human rights and minorities affairs departments at the Karachi Press Club was attended by media persons and people from different religions.

MPA Mangla Sharma said that she was working for promoting interfaith harmony. She remarked that Sindh was a land of Sufism and peace. “I am happy to see that the message of interfaith harmony is speaking and now the government has also realised its importance.”

She opined that social media was an important medium that should be utilised for spreading the message of harmony among believers of different faiths. She said every one of us should play a role in discouraging the messages of violence and hatred.

“According to the Constitution, every citizen has equal rights, so there is a need that all those laws which are discriminating against the minority communities be amended,” said journalist Mahesh Kumar. He appreciated TKF for making video and audio messages for interfaith harmony.

Sham Sundar from the provincial minorities department said the department was working for the welfare of minority communities in Sindh. A representative of an organisation for the transgender community, Kami Sid, said we had to learn from each other about interfaith harmony and spread this message all around. Rights activist and poet Javed Soz Halai suggested that these peace messages be spread in rural areas.

Zulfiqar Abbasi from the police department also appreciated the messages on interfaith harmony. Bungul Khan Chachar from the Sindh human rights department lamented the rising intolerance in society. There should be redress of human rights violations, he said, adding that our society needed both interfaith and intra-faith harmony. Human rights awareness should be at the grassroots level, especially in the rural and far-flung areas, he asserted.