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| April 14, 2003 | Monday | Safar 11, 1424 |
Seminaries’ help sought to end sectarianism
RAWALPINDI, April 13: Seminaries should put an end to the menace of sectarianism, and play their role in promoting peace, fraternity and brotherhood in the society, Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi said on Sunday.
Speaking at the Quran Conference 2003 at Liaquat Hall, Mr Elahi said distancing from the true spirit of Islam and Quranic teachings had landed the country into problems.
Sectarianism, he said, was one of the main products of this trend of remaining aloof from the teachings of Islam. He said families after families were devastated by sectarianism. He said Pakistan had been established for the sake of Islam and did not belong to any specific sect, rather it was for everyone who believed in the religion.
He said all Muslims in the country lived in complete peace and harmony at the time of the establishment of the country. However, he said, later wrong concepts entered into people’s lives and propaganda overtook the reality. This, he said, eroded harmony and peace between different sects in the country.
The chief minister said the Punjab government would send five students of religious seminaries on scholarship to Jamiatul Azhar (Egypt) for higher education every year.
He urged the students of the seminaries to concentrate on modern education besides their religious education. He said the main cause of backwardness among the Muslim countries was their inability to adopt technological advances.
About the role of women in building the family and society, Mr Elahi said they had got a very significant role to play, which could be made more important by properly equipping them with both worldly and religious education.
He said Pakistan had attained political and economic stability and an honourable position in the comity of nations because of the President Pervez Musharraf’s progressive and dynamic leadership.
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