ISLAMABAD, May 28: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Saturday urged the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) to focus efforts on poverty eradication, human development for peace and prosperity in the world and project Islam as a peaceful religion. Inaugurating a two-day meeting of the OIC Commission of Eminent Persons at a local hotel, the prime minister said the OIC countries should face the challenges being faced by the Ummah and take effective, practical and comprehensive steps to overcome them.
It is the second and final meeting of the OIC Commission of Eminent Persons. The first meeting was held in Putrajaya (Malaysia) in January 2005. Mr Aziz said the strategy of “enlightened moderation” propounded by President General Pervez Musharraf “which enjoys full support of the Islamic world” should be further promoted through the concerted efforts of the OIC members.
He said the OIC needed restructuring, reorganization, repositioning and reinvigoration in consonance with the concept of “enlightened moderation” which would enable the OIC to effectively deal with the multi-faceted challenges faced by the Islamic Ummah.
He said the Commission of Eminent Persons (CEP) bore the onerous responsibility of chartering a practical course for Islamic countries to enable them to regain their rightful status in the emerging global order.
He said the outcome of the inaugural meeting of the CEP held in Malaysia “amply demonstrated the sagacity, wisdom and farsightedness” of the commission which truly represented the aspirations of the Islamic Ummah.
The prime minister said that the new threats, including nuclear proliferation, terrorism and extremism as well as increased use of unilateralism “have compounded the earlier threats” arising from poverty, underdevelopment, territorial disputes, decolonization and denial of justice.
He said a new relationship between Muslims and the West built on mutual respect, tolerance and understanding “needs to be evolved” to effectively deal with the new and old threats.
In the present circumstances, there are enormous challenges and opportunities for the Islamic world and there is need for the Muslims to prepare themselves for an effective role commensurate with their collective potential, the premier said.
The image of Islam is being shaped by the extreme actions of a tiny minority that exists on the fringes of Muslim societies and as a result neither Islam nor Muslim world is seen as it should be in view of the humane and progressive value of the faith, he added.
Islam does not believe in “clash of civilizations”. It advocates harmony, tolerance, coexistence, peace and compassion, he said.
Mr Aziz said Islam is for good governance, justice, ethnic equality, and respect for basic rights, emancipation of women, social justice and accountability.
Islam prohibits all manifestations of discrimination, racism and terrorism, he added.
The prime minister said the Holy Quran appreciates the diversity of views and considers it a happy sign for mental nourishment and development. He said there was no substitute for dialogue, accommodation and harmony to foster understanding and to evolve an equitable and just global order.
He said nothing could be resolved through violent means on a permanent basis, so “we should neither believe in confrontation nor in capitulation”. He added: “We strongly believe, as emphasized several times by President Musharraf, that the West has to help resolve political disputes including Kashmir and Palestine affecting the Muslim people through ensuring just and durable solutions based on the aspirations of their people.”
He said the West also needs to be more proactive in addressing the socio-economic problems in Muslim societies to ensure progress in the economic and social sectors which would curb terrorism and promote “enlightened moderation”.
Mr Aziz said the Muslim countries should also redress their weaknesses. “There is inadequate weightage of Muslims at the international level despite the fact they represent one-fifth of the world’s population, possess 70 per cent of global energy resources and 40 per cent of global availability of raw material.”
He said the collective OIC share in global trade “is barely 6.7 per cent” and their collective GDP “amounts to a meagre 5 per cent of world GDP”. In today’s world, economic strength determines the status and position of a bloc or a country in the comity of nations, therefore, without economic growth, the Muslim Ummah would remain vulnerable to external manipulation, he said.
Appreciating the efforts of Commission of Eminent Persons of OIC, the prime minister hoped that the commissioners would finalize their recommendations which will be discussed in the next meetings of Foreign Ministers of Islamic Countries and subsequently these will be presented to the extraordinary summit of OIC being held in Makkah in November 2005. —APP
