January 7, 2006	Saturday	Zilhaj 6, 1426

KARACHI, Jan 6: Speakers at a meeting of Shura Hamdard - Karachi chapter has urged the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) to establish institutes of scientific research.

They said that such institutes were the only way out of the present conditions of backwardness, illiteracy and poverty in which Muslims were living, and the only way to get rid of “Western hegemony”.

The meeting was on the topic, “OIC: How It Can Become An Effective International Power”.

It was held at a local hotel on Thursday with former provincial ombudsman Sindh Justice (Retd) Haziqul Khairi in the chair. Ms Sadia Rashid, President of the Hamdard Foundation Pakistan and Shura Hamdard Pakistan, was also present.

Addressing the meeting, former ambassador Mehdi Masood said the recent OIC Mecca Summit fell short of urgent needs of the Muslim Islamic Ummah in vital spheres of security and economic development.

Although a number of steps were announced, these did not measure up to the economic potential and responsibilities of the OIC states, he added.

“However, a number of positive initiatives were announced in various fields, which need to be implemented effectively. These include decisions of setting up an independent human rights commission to monitor the state of human rights in the OIC member states; reactivating the minorities’ wing of the OIC Secretariat; monitoring conditions of Muslim minorities; and support for an end to sectarian divisiveness among Muslims,” he observed.

Mr Masood said the summit called for expansion in the UN Security Council with adequate representation of the Muslim Ummah and supported the right of OIC member states to develop peaceful uses of nuclear energy in accordance with international legality.

“It was decided to enhance the role of the OIC Secretary General and entrust him with taking initiatives for promoting reconciliation among member states besides strengthening the OIC Secretariat both financially and administratively,” he said.

The summit also decided to set up disaster and special funds to combat poverty. However, it was imperative to implement the call of President Musharraf for earmarking a minimum percentage of the GDP by member states for promoting economic co-operation, he added.

Dr Mirza Arshad Baig said Allah has gifted best the Muslim world with mental qualities, manpower and natural resources, adding they should achieve self-reliance using these resources and get rid of Western hegemony.

He said the Arab world was flooded with money on account of the 1970s oil crisis, but the Muslim world failed to produce any bank and this huge amount went to Western banks making Western countries wealthier.

Former ambassador M Abul Fazl said there was no dispute between the Arab League and the OIC as both were Muslim organisations.

“The establishment of the Islamic Development Bank was a positive step of the OIC, which is helping in development of shipping, medicine and other industries,”he added.

He said the OIC was reflective of cultural and religious aspirations of the Muslim world, adding that military leaderships had failed in Arab countries and now the Arab masses were coming forward and taking affairs in their own hands making the prospects of Arab unity more brilliant.

Former chairman Pakistan Steel Mills Haq Nawaz Akhtar said, historically the West had created Arab nationalism through the Lawrence of Arabia; made Iraq and Iran fight each other for 11 years; and were now trying to divide Iraq into three parts.

Criticising the Western media, he said: “If people die in Iraq, the Western media shows them separately as Shias and Sunnis killed. The distinction between Sunnis and Shias is being highlighted cunningly to create more differences among Muslims there.”

Engineer Anwarul Haq Siddiqui said books written by Muslim scientists and scholars had awoken Europe, but Muslims were still frozen somewhere in the 15th century.

He demanded that 10 per cent of the GDP should be spent on education.

Qutubuddin Aziz, Dr Syed Amjad Jafri, Sarshar Siddiqui, Col (Retd) Mukhtar Ahmed Butt, Dr Nazar Kamrani, MA Sabzwari and others also spoke.—PPI