17 July 2004	Saturday	28 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

ISLAMABAD, July 16: Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on Friday said that the country today was faced with some serious internal threats in the form of sectarianism, water issue, political polarization, unemployment , illiteracy and exploitation of religion to achieve political ends.

He was speaking at the fourth National Security Workshop arranged by the National Defence College to discuss internal and external threats the country was facing.

The prime minister said he was deeply concerned over the younger generation which was becoming victim of sectarianism and appealed to all segments of society to help government check this trend.

"We all know how the poison of sectarianism has penetrated into society and it is destroying the whole fabric of our society. I am very concerned about our younger and future generations becoming victim of this scourge," he said.

Talking about double standards in society, Chaudhry Shujaat said: "We are fast becoming a society of hypocrites and leveling false charges has become our habit. It is my desire that during my tenure I adopt a proactive approach to curb this trend by changing existing laws," he said.

Talking about external threats, the prime minister said that in order to fight all external threats the country must be economically very sound and it progress to be self-sufficient to sustain pressures from the outside world.

The prime minister said he would not suggest any solution to these threats but would look forward to recommendations of the NSW in this regard. "I will request the Commandant of the NDC to put forward his recommendations to the prime minister's office, which will be considered as part of solutions," he said.

The prime minister asked nazims, who were also participating in the workshop, to follow the concept of good governance. "This implies a code of conduct to exercise socio-economic powers in managing affairs of the state in the best possible manner," he said.

"We have to find the root cause of going from bad to worse, from bomb blasts to suicide attacks," he said. The prime minister said the guidance given to us by Allah almighty through the holy Quran had to pass on to the new generation in the true spirit of Islam.

He said he was happy to see members of political parties from the government as well as opposition sitting together here. The prime minister announced that the participants of all four National Security Workshops would be sent to different countries for regional study tours by the government.

The participants of the 4th National Security Workshop (NSW) are parliamentarians, senior officers of armed forces, civil servants, advocates, Nazims, businessmen and media managers. Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Gen Mohammad Aziz Khan was also present on the occasion.

Earlier, Commandant of the National Defence College, Lt-Gen Tariq Waseem Ghazi, in his welcome address said that the National Security Workshop was an endeavour to enable the leaders of society to comprehend the issues of national security. "We are providing them conducive and congenial atmosphere to themselves evaluate the issue of national security and make up their mind," he said. -APP