KARACHI, Oct 25: Speakers at a demonstration on Thursday said that the majority of Pakistanis were peace-loving people and were not extremists or fanatics as they were being portrayed by the world media.

Speaking at the demonstration staged by the “Voice of the Silent Majority” at the Press Club, they said a jihad should be launched against illiteracy, poverty, fanaticism, sectarianism, intolerance, oppression etc so that the nation could progress.

They said Pakistanis had been held hostage by a vocal minority, comprising radical elements, espousing disparate agendas and waging bloody wars in the streets, who had not only brutalized the people but had also brought a bad name to the religion.

They said a vast majority of the Pakistanis believed in tolerance, peace, harmony, coexistence, non-violence, and that they had come out to express their views so that the world also knew that the Pakistanis were a peace-loving nation that believed in peaceful coexistence.

The demonstrators were carrying placards and raising slogans in support of their views. Some of the slogans were: “Pakistan comes first”; “No to sectarianism”; “Yes to faith, unity and discipline”; “No to extremism, lawlessness and terrorism”.

Fatima Surriya Bajiya, Mumtaz Rashdi, Irshad Abdul Kader, Rehana Saigol, Riaz Mahmood, Ghazi Salahuddin and others spoke.