PRIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif did well by undertaking a day-long visit to Qatar to express solidarity with the government and people of the brotherly country in the wake of the dastardly attack carried out by the Jewish State.
The gesture was in line with the immense goodwill that Qatar enjoys in Pakistan and sentiments of the people that have been injured due to violation of its sovereignty by a country, which considers itself above international law or accountability for its dare-devil crimes.
Pakistan, like other just minded members of the international community, had promptly and strongly condemned the state-sponsored terrorism of Tel Aviv amid calls in the Muslim world for greater and effective unity to counter anti-Ummah moves. This growing demand was also reflected in the call made by the Prime Minister, who emphasized that the Muslim Ummah needed unity in its ranks in the face of Israeli provocations. In fact, the brazen violation of Qatar’s sovereignty has shocked people of Pakistan as the country has a track record of making significant contributions to peace efforts in different parts of the globe. The Israeli Prime Minister, in a bid to justify the unacceptable aggression, has likened it to the targeting of Osama bin Laden by the United States in Pakistan. However, the entire world acknowledges the role played by Qatar for restoration of peace and security in different regions. It is known to all that Qatar also hosted the political leadership of Taliban and it was after a series of indirect and direct negotiations between the United States and Taliban that a peace accord was signed heralding withdrawal of occupation forces from Afghanistan. In the same spirit, Qatar was making sincere efforts to broker peace in Gaza where a genocide is continuing because of might is right policy of Israel. In view of the sinister designs of Israel, the OIC should take concrete steps to promote unity of the Ummah and safeguard its collective interests and those of its member countries. Israel has set a dangerous precedent and watching the emerging situation silently will be a criminal act on the part of the Islamic world as well as the United Nations. As Pakistan is playing an active role regionally and globally, its decision to take up the issue at the UN is understandable but there is also a need to activate the platform of the OIC that remains somewhat dormant as it does nothing except occasionally issuing condemnatory statements and expressing concern over anti-Ummah developments around the globe. The PM assured the Qatari leadership of Pakistan’s full solidarity and support in the face of this unjustified provocation and hopefully a majority of the global community will follow suit.
The Prime Minister appreciated Qatar’s responsible and constructive mediatory role in efforts to bring peace in Gaza and stressed that such acts of Israeli aggression were clearly meant to undermine regional stability and threaten ongoing diplomatic and humanitarian efforts. This is borne out by the warning issued by Prime Minister of Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Wednesday who said the unprecedented Israeli strike in Doha targeting Hamas killed hope for Gaza hostages, calling for Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu to be “brought to justice”. He also stated that Doha was “reassessing everything” around their involvement in future ceasefire talks and discussing next steps with Washington. There is, however, no point in pinning positive hopes on Washington as it is hands in glove with Tel Aviv in its aggressive designs and has miserably failed in keeping up to its security assurances to the Gulf States. Israel represents a real danger to the security and stability of the region and it is time for the Islamic world to wake up to the reality. Leaders of the Islamic world should move beyond rhetoric and take tangible steps to protect the interests of the Ummah as per aspirations of their people. Collective defence at all levels – militarily, economically and diplomatically – is the only answer and this can become a reality given resources and clout of the Ummah.
