Federal Caretaker Minister for Information and Broadcasting Murtaza Solangi said Thursday that the elimination of extremism and all types of prejudices was not only part of Islamic religious norms and Islamic history, but it was also a cornerstone of the Pakistan ideology.
In his speech at a peace festival here, the minister said that the National Counter-Terrorism Authority had taken important steps to eliminate extremism and terrorism from society.
Solangi said that extremism was one of the elements that destroyed peace and violence which bred terrorism.
The minister said that Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had highlighted the rights of minorities in his speech of August 11, 1947. He said that Islam also taught kindness to humanity, irrespective of caste and creed.
Solangi said that anti-peace forces wanted to weaken the power of Pakistan by targeting minorities as diversity was Pakistan’s strength. “All the people of the state of Pakistan enjoyed equal rights.”
The minister said the promotion and protection of minorities’ rights on the principle of equality was a major weapon against extremism. He said that time had come to eliminate all types of prejudices from society, as it was one aspect of the ideology of the creation of Pakistan.
The minister also recalled that 22 years ago in 2001, the United Nations had announced to celebrate the International Day of Peace on September 21 every year. In 2023, he added, 75 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights would also be marked which was an important milestone in itself.
