Maleeha, others slam hate crimes against Muslims

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan’s Ambassador to UN Maleeha Lodhi and other speakers at an event held at the United Nations on Friday voiced concerns over increasing hate crimes against Muslims in the West, saying that the most effective action to reverse this dangerous trend lay in promoting interfaith cooperation.

The occasion was a side event organised by the Missions of Pakistan and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation as part of the annual observance of the World Interfaith Harmony Week (February 1 to 7).

A brainchild of Ambassador Lodhi, the side event was entitled Countering Xenophobia Through Interfaith Cooperation. “This is a modest effort to bring us together in solidarity in defence of our values and respect for each other’s faith as part of human family to promote solidarity,” the Pakistani envoy, who co-chaired the event, told delegates in a UN conference room.

In her concluding remarks, she spoke of the current challenges and disturbing trends towards hate and discrimination, saying that “hope not fear should guide us in addressing this issue”.

OIC Ambassador Ufuk Golcen, the other co-chair, while highlighting the dangers of xenophobia and bigotry, said interfaith cooperation was the way to bring about a harmonious environment and peaceful conditions.

Three prominent interfaith activists Dr Farooq Ahmed Khan, Dr William Vendley and Dr Munir Al-Kassem called for dialogue among leaders and religious communities in an effort to end the rising tide of religious and ethnic discrimination and bias incidents.

Most speakers including Saudi Ambassador Abdullah bin Yahya Al-Moallimi lauded Ambassador Lodhi for the well thought-out move to focus international attention on xenophobia and discuss ways to counter this phenomenon. They evinced keen interest in the debate in which the ambassadors and representatives of Fiji, Sierra Leone and Morocco also took part.

In her opening remarks, the Pakistani envoy called for action to combat the forces of Islamophobia and warned that if timely steps were not taken to check this disturbing trend, it could threaten regional and global peace and security.

She said Pakistan and the OIC countries were most concerned by the recent sharp rise in acts of discrimination, hate and violence against specific religious and ethnic communities, especially Muslims. Unfortunately, this was happening in countries which were the traditional champions of human rights and humanitarianism, she said.