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| May 7, 2006 | Sunday | Rabi-us-Sani 8, 1427 |
No seminary imparting military training: Ejaz at ceremony
LAHORE, May 6: No religious seminary in Pakistan is imparting military training to its students and thus propaganda that they are churning out extremists is completely baseless, Religious Affairs Minister Ejazul Haq said here on Saturday.
Addressing a ceremony at the Hamdard Centre, he said unlike churches and synagogues which opened only once a week, religious seminaries remained open round the clock and educational activities carried out there could be seen by any one.
Muslims, he said, were being wrongfully targeted after the 9/11 and 7/7 attacks in the US and UK, with no one trying to understand that Islam was a religion of peace and tolerance.
He said the West must know that “a true Muslim is one who believes in Jesus Christ and Bible and Moses and Tora, besides the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the Holy Quran.”
The minister said the anti-Islam sentiment in the West was nothing but Islamophobia.
He said there were countries which followed Moses and his teachings or Jesus Christ and his message, but they did not believe in the worthy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the Holy Quran.
The minister said anybody who knew about Islam would not tag its followers as extremists or terrorists. To understand what Islam taught to its followers, he said, there was need for an inter-faith dialogue.
He deplored that the OIC had failed to clear misperceptions about Islam, although it was the fastest spreading religion of the world.
The minister said Pakistan was doing its best to highlight the true image of Islam, but added that other countries should also play their due role for the purpose.
Referring to the people who resorted to suicide bombings to protest against the atrocities they were being subjected to, rights they were being denied and injustice they were being made to face, Ejazul Haq said such causes should be addressed by the world community to prevent people from taking their own lives.
It was regrettable, he said, that Muslims were discriminated by the world community when they called for their rights, and even the United Nations failed to discharge its obligations. He regretted that the world body remained unmoved when the people of Kashmir, Palestine or Chechnya demanded their legitimate rights, but it immediately swang into action when Christians of Indonesia complained that they were being mistreated.
Ejazul Haq said the UN should differentiate between the genuine freedom struggles and the acts of terrorism. For this, he said, the world body should first define ‘terrorism’ before pinning this tag on any individual or group.
About the situation in occupied Kashmir, the minister said, 700,000 troops had been deployed there which were committing the worst atrocities on the Kashmiris. This was nothing but state terrorism.
Similarly, he said, the people of Palestine were being killed in large numbers by Israeli troops only because they were asking for their rights.
He said the Western countries must look into the grievances of Muslims in various parts of the world.
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