ISLAMABAD, Oct 30: The World Minorities’ Alliance (WMA) on Tuesday held a demonstration in front of the United Nations’ office to protest the murder of 18 Christians in Bahawalpur.

Carrying placards and banners, the protesters, who included women and children, demanded of the government to bring the perpetrators of the heinous crime to the book. They also chanted slogans like ‘We are Pakistanis’ and ‘We are united’.

WMA convenor Julius Salik, who was carrying a Pakistani flag, proposed to the UN to organize a world conference of minorities’ representatives to hammer out a workable formula that could avert a clash between major civilizations or schools of thought.

Eighteen people were gunned down by six unidentified terrorists at a catholic church in Bahawalpur on Sunday.

Safeguard of minorities’ rights was a responsibility of the United Nations, he observed, asking the world body to discharge its obligations in this connection.

He said international peace could not be ensured without safeguarding the lives, honour, property or faith of minority groups in all countries of the world.

He also demanded that minorities’ places of worship should be protected all over the world.

Mr Salik was of the view that communal harmony should be introduced as a subject in all educational institutions.

Peace was the way for a multi-faceted human life. Unesco should devise curricula and courses of studies for all levels of education to prepare ‘peace scholars’ who could launch a campaign to curb terrorism and promote peaceful co-existence, he added.