ISLAMABAD: Chief of the Army Staff Gen Asim Munir has said there is no space for intolerance and extreme behaviour by any entity against anyone, particularly against minorities and vulnerable segments of society.

“Pakistan belongs to all Pakistanis wi­­thout any religious, provincial, tribal, linguistic, ethnic, sectarian or any other distinction. Use of force and armed action by any militia, entity or group other than the state is unacceptable,” the COAS said during an interaction with the country’s leading Islamic scholars at the GHQ on Friday.

He signified the role of Ulema and Mashaikh in harnessing the youth towards understanding of the Holy Quran and Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and character building alongside other academic knowledge and technical skills.

The army chief, while lauding the ‘Paigham-i-Pakistan’ fatwa by religious scholars to nullify misleading propaganda disseminated by extremists and terrorists, called upon them to propagate and implement initiative in letter and spirit and shun internal schisms.

Army chief says there is no space for extreme behaviour against minorities, vulnerable segments

The Paigham-i-Pakistan narrative was launched in 2018. It was signed by 1,829 religious scholars belonging to all the mainstream sects in the country, who held that the use of force in the garb of implementation of ‘Sharia’, armed struggle against the state or the use of violence and terrorism to settle ethnic, geographical, religious and sectarian disagreement are contrary to the injunctions of Sharia.

During the meeting, the Ulema and Mashaikh unanimously condemned extremism, terrorism and sectarianism and pledged their continued support for untiring efforts by the state and security forces for bringing tolerance, peace and stability to the country.

They underscored that Islam is a religion of peace and harmony and any skewed and distorted interpretation of religion by certain entities is for their vested interests only and it has nothing to do with Islamic teachings.

The forum unanimously supported the government’s steps, including repatriation of illegal foreigners, implementation of the ‘one document regime’, anti-smuggling and hoarding measures, and anti-power theft drive.

The participants also acknowledged Pakistan’s position and concerns on terrorism emanating from the Afghan soil and urged Afghanistan to take action to address Pakistan’s concerns.

The forum also expressed anguish over the ongoing conflict in Gaza and atrocities being committed by Israeli forces against the hapless people of Gaza and termed them crimes against humanity.

Minister for Religious Affairs Dr Aneeq Ahmed, Council of Islamic Ideology Cha­irman Dr Qibla Ayaz, Ruet-i-Hilal Comm­ittee Chairman Mau­lana Abdul Khabeer Azad, Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi, senior clerics and scholars attended the meeting.

Published in Dawn, November 18th, 2023