ISLAMABAD, Aug 8: Speaking on behalf of 57 Muslim countries, Pakistan on Monday called upon the international community to stop maligning religions, especially Islam. Speaking at a meeting of the Sub-Commission on Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Geneva, Pakistan’s UN representative Masood Khan said the phenomenon of Islamophobia was on the rise in Western countries.

He said that Muslim and Western leaders should demonstrate leadership to reverse the trend and collectively promote tolerance and respect for all religions. He drew the sub-commission’s attention to incidents of verbal abuse, slurs and hostility against Muslims.

Mr Khan said that in Britain alone, 1,200 suspected incidents of Islamophobia had been recorded, out of which 269 fell into the category of religious hate crimes. He commended the efforts of the British government to reach out to the Muslim communities to assure them that they would not be discriminated against.

The sub-commission is a permanent body comprising 26 independent members who meet in Geneva annually to develop and strengthen international human rights laws. Mr Khan, who is the current chairman of the OIC group in Geneva, said that after the London bombings on July 7, 2005, one Muslim had been murdered in the UK. Elsewhere, mosques have been attacked, vandalised and burnt, racial profiling has increased, and discrimination has spread to work places and businesses.

He said a report from Scotland Yard, published on August 4, 2005, confirmed “a startling surge in crimes related to religious hatred”. Figures made public showed a 600 per cent increase in faith-hate crimes since July 7, compared to the same period last year, affecting Muslim immigrants largely, he said.

He said that OIC countries had strongly condemned terrorist attacks in London and Sharm Al Sheikh as despicable criminal acts, which were repugnant to the tenets of Islam — a faith of peace, harmony and tolerance.

He expressed concern that an orchestrated campaign had been mounted to demonize Muslims and Islam. The concept of Jihad was being distorted by equating it with extremism and terrorism. There was an emphasis on scrutinizing textbooks in Islamic countries, but similar efforts in Western countries were being opposed in order to drive a wedge between Islam and other religions.

He said that the forces that are opposed to Islam were attacking the policies of multi-culturalism, tolerance and diversity in Western Europe.