Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Friday called for action against individuals and groups misusing Islam to incite “terrorism,” urging unity among all segments of society to defeat militancy amid a surge in attacks across the country in recent months.
He expressed these views while meeting with delegation of scholars from all schools of thoughts and leaders of other religions, led by Chairman Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Maulana Abdul Khabeer Azad and Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Chaudhry Salik Hussain.
Speaking to the delegation, Mohsin Naqvi said consultations with scholars and leaders of other religions have been started to eliminate the menace of terrorism in the country.
He said, “First and foremost, we all are Pakistanis, and Pakistan comes first.”
He emphasized that we need to get out of this menace of terrorism in which we are being pushed into, and with the help of scholars we can get rid of this menace.
He stressed that we need to unite as a nation to eliminate terrorism. We need to stop the misuse of Islam and prevent people from being misled into terrorism.
He said, “We will visit every province, meet chief ministers and scholars, and convey the same message. We will also convey this message to the federal Government, which is working day and night for this purpose.
Interior minister emphasized that we need to stop the misuse of Islam’s name, and the true leaders of the religion are scholars and spiritual leaders, not those who take up arms against the state.
Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Chaudhry Salik Hussain said that we need to save the new generation from guns and the Government, institutions, and scholars need to work together to provide a safe future for the new generation.
After the meeting, a joint declaration was approved. All the scholars and spiritual leaders rejected the narrative of extremists and terrorists in the country. The declaration stated that Islam is a religion of peace that teaches respect for humanity and strives for a society which is free from violence.
