14 May 2004	Friday	23 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

GILGIT, May 13: Aga Syed Ziauddin Rizvi, a top leader of Shia community of Northern Areas, has urged the government to resolve long-standing issue of Islamiat curriculum which he said was a major source of sectarian unrest in the region.

Speaking at a rally here on Tuesday, he asked the government to resolve the curriculum issue which had been unresolved for the past three years and had led to several protests, violent agitations and clashes in the Northern Areas from time to time.

Mr Rizvi asked the government to identify the root cause of the issue instead of groping in the dark to find a solution to the issue. "The long-lasting peace in this mountainous region cannot be guaranteed unless and until necessary changes as proposed by the Shia community are brought about and made part of the Islamiat syllabus," he said.

"We are not against the existing Islamiat and other syllabi but Shia students should not be forced to study the present syllabus as we deem this to be controversial and a cause of sectarian rift. We want a syllabus reflecting our beliefs," Mr Rizvi declared.

The Shia leader said that they had fixed a deadline of May 15 to effect changes in the existing curriculum, particularly in Islamiat, otherwise they would resume their agitation.