LAHORE, Feb 5; Punjab Chief Minister's Adviser on Promotion of Religious Harmony Hafiz Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi has called upon ulema and mashaikh to make concerted efforts for maintaining sectarian peace in the province during Moharram.

Speaking at a Peace Conference held at the Darul Uloom Hizbul Ahnaf here on Saturday, he said that Islam was a religion of peace and enjoined the faithful to live in harmony and exercise restraint in their relations. He said that President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had increased the prestige of the country in the comity of nations by supporting the efforts for combating terrorism.

He said that Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi had issued instructions of maintaining sectarian peace in the province during Moharram. The religious leaders should support the efforts of the government for projecting the image of Pakistan as a moderate country by promoting religious harmony.

Punjab Auqaf Secretary Muhammad Javed Iqbal Awan, Dr Syed Qamar Ali Zaidi, Mufti Muhammad Khan Qadri, Hafiz Zubair SAhmed Zaheer, Dr Muhammad Sarfraz Naeemi, Mazhar Taqi Butt, Ikram Elahi, Ali Ghazanfar Kararvi, Nisar Ashraf Rizvi, Syed Mustafa Ashraf Rizvi and Syed Mukhtar Ashraf Rizvi said that Moharram was a holy month for the Muslims but vested interests tried to create hatred and drive a wedge between different sects for pleasing their masters. They called upon ulema and mashaikh to foil the conspiracries of the enemies of Islam to disrupt sectarian peace during Moharram.