ISLAMABAD Oct 12: Pakistan Muslim League president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has said that practical steps will be taken for disseminating the teachings of sufis in the country.

Chaudhry Shujaat, who is chairman of the National Council of Sufism (NCS), was presiding over the first meeting of the council here on Thursday.

He said mankind was united against coercion and “we need to adopt sufism in our lives to end oppression and suppression”.

Sufis, he pointed out, had given the message of peace, love and brotherhood and said steps would have to be taken towards that end.

He said there was a need to propagate the message of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, Shah Hussain Sachal Sarmast and Allama Iqbal, adding that an Iqbal festival would be held on Nov 9 at which an album titled Allama Iqbal’s message

of courage for youths would

be released. In December, he said, a Roomi festival would be held.

NCS members Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed from Islamabad, Yousuf Salahuddin from Punjab, Hameed Haroon from Sindh, Jam Muhammad Yousuf from Balochistan and Abbas Sarfaraz from the NWFP attended the meeting.

It was decided that the council’s next meeting would be held under its patron-in-chief President General Pervez Musharraf.

Mr Mushahid Hussain suggested that the culture of

brotherhood and tolerance could be promoted through sufi music.

He said sufis could play an important role in creation of the inter-faith harmony.

He said a PhD degree programme on teaching of sufis would be initiated in all universities of the country.

He informed the meeting that there were 534 mazars in Punjab, 221 in Sindh, 159 in NWFP and 69 in Balochistan.