Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Interfaith Harmony and Middle East Hafiz Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi on Tuesday said national dialogue was a way forward of all crises being faced by the country.
He was addressing a book launching ceremony titled ‘Advancing Peace, Inclusiveness and Co-Existence Through Narrative Building’ written by Professor Dr Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq who is the director general of the Islamic Research Institute of International Islamic University Islamabad.
Tahir Ashrafi who is also the chairman of Pakistan Ulema Council said Ulema and Mashaykh had managed to overcome the burgeoning religious extremism in the country through reaching a consensus under the umbrella of Paigham-e-Pakistan (The Message of Pakistan), a document signed by more than 15,000 renowned clerics of all schools of thought.
He urged the political parties to come forward to get rid of the political extremism through negotiation as this peaceful process could take Pakistan to new heights of development and prosperity.
He said it was wrong perception that the political leadership or relevant people were not part of the talks held in Afghanistan. He said it was just an initial stage and it would take a due course of time to mature the deal.
He said the armed forces leadership had proved its political disassociation in the current circumstances adding how it could be possible to reach an agreement without taking the parliament, religious and political leaderships and nation on board.
Ashrafi said Pakistan had witnessed a bitter experience of extremism and terrorism therefore; we should make all out efforts to make it a peaceful land instead of dragging it towards death and destruction once again.
