Staff Reporter
Federal Minister for Interior Brig (R) Ijaz Shah has urged the religious scholars to promote unity and harmony in the country and play their role in effective implementation of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) against coronavirus during the upcoming Eidul Azha.
In this regard, Paigham-e-Pakistan a mutually agreed collective narrative of all the religious scholars from all schools of thought can play a vital role, said Birg Ijaz Shah.
He expressed these views while talking to Khateeb of Badshahi Masjid and Chairman of Majlis Ulema Pakistan, Abdul Khabeer Azad who called on him on Thursday to brief him about the Majlis’ efforts to spread message of the Paigham-e-Pakistan across the country.
Brig Ijaz Shah said due to the government’s smart lockdown policy coronavirus had gone on the backfoot and the number of cases were declining rapidly.
He was of the view that since the religious scholars commanded great respect in society and people listened to them and acted upon their advice so it would be quite useful if they convinced them in their sermons and speeches to follow the SOPs in letter and spirit and uphold various measures like social distancing, washing hands and wearing masks while going out of their houses, etc.
Abdul Khabeer Azad said Paigham-e-Pakistan was a great narrative and the government needed to legislate on it so that all the negative forces doing propaganda against Pakistan received a clear message that the Pakistani religious scholars were united on the security, sovereignty and tolerance in the country and all the conspiracies against the country were bound to meet failure.
Brig Ijaz Shah lauded Abdul Khabeer Azad’s efforts for fostering unity and harmony among the scholars and the ulema belonging to different schools of thought. Pakistan needs such kind of spirit and under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan we will make Pakistan a truly Islamic Welfare state, said Brig Ijaz.