ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani said on Monday that Islam was the religion of peace which taught us compassion, love, brotherhood and tolerance, while the Muslim Ummah believed in peaceful co-existence in the world community. “Today, the world is talking about promotion of culture pluralism, inter-faith peace and inter-ethnic dialogue, but it was the western imperialism and colonialism that distorted and fragmented the inter-cultures and inter-ethnic harmony in the regions they ruled,” he said. He was addressing 137th Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly at St Petersburg, Russia. Heads of parliaments, parliamentarians and delegates from around the globe are participating in the event. The Senate chairman is leading a parliamentary delegation of the country comprising seven members of National Assembly, four senators, the Senate secretary and the senior officers from both the Houses of Parliament. “A Charter of Madina (Misaq-e-Madina) is the first constitution of the human history which enshrines the message of peace and co-existence among comity of nations and laid basics for protection of minorities. Islam spread the message of tolerance and harmony against the cruelty of the imperialism and colonialism in the Asia and Europe. We are not barbarians and have opened the doors of culture and civilization,” he added. He said that throughout the course of history, a lack of communication and dialogue, as well as mistrust and misunderstanding among the peoples of different faiths, culture and ethnicities had led to bloodshed, suffering and pain destroying individual societies and countries. He reminded that from Crusades to the French Religious wars of 15th century and the Thirty Years wars that devastated Europe in 16th century, and from lingering Palestinian and Kashmir conflicts to Bosnian war and the current violent unrest in Middle East, peace had remained hostage to intolerance, racial, ethnic and religious discrimination, xenophobia, extremism, national rigidities, and non-recognition of religious and cultural pluralism. Mian Raza Rabbani said that Kashmir is an unfinished agenda of partition of the sub-continent. “The silence of the world over the human atrocities being committed by Indian occupied forces, which are using pellet guns and shells against the peaceful Kashmiris, is unprecedented. Pakistan has suffered substantial loss to its economy and offered human sacrifices more than any nation in the war against terrorism, which must be recognised. Peace can only be restored by solving the outstanding issues of Kashmir and Palestine as well as eradicating the transnational terrorism and extremism which is on rise throughout the world, even in Western societies and established democracies,” he said. He asserted that interfaith and intercultural dialogue was a crucial dimension of international understanding and thus of conflict resolution. The Senate chairman said that there were no borders when it came to hatred towards other faiths and ethnicities. “The people who indulge in such sentiments are clearly victims of brainwashing and confusion. It is imperative that nations do not just address the issue internally, but should collaborate with each other to get rid of this menace,” he said.
Published in Daily Times, October 17th 2017.
