Pakistan belongs to all Pakistanis without religious, sectarian distinction: COAS

RAWALPINDI: Leading Islamic scholars (Ulema o Mashaikh) of all schools of thought interacted with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir at the General Headquarters (GHQ), ARY News quoted ISPR on Friday.

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

They underscored that Islam is a religion of peace and harmony and any skewed and distorted interpretations of religion by certain entities is for their vested interests only and has nothing to do with Islamic teachings, read a press release issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

COAS General Syed Asim Munir, while lauding ‘Paigham-e-Pakistan’ Fatwa by religious scholars to nullify misleading propaganda disseminated by extremists and terrorists, called upon Ulema o Mashaikh for its propagation and implementation in letter and spirit and shun internal schisms.

The army chief signified the role of Ulema in harnessing youth towards understanding of Quran and Sunnah and character building alongside other academic knowledge and technical skills.

COAS Munir said that there is no space for intolerance and extreme behavior by any entity against anyone, particularly against minorities and vulnerable segments of the society.

The forum unanimously supported the Pakistani government’s measures to harden the state including repatriation of illegal foreigners, implementation of One Document Regime, anti-smuggling and hoarding measures and anti-power theft drive.

It also fully acknowledged Pakistan’s position and concerns on terrorism emanating from Afghan soil and urged serious actions by Afghanistan to address Pakistan’s concerns.

The forum also expressed anguish on the ongoing conflict in Gaza and atrocities being committed against hapless people of Gaza and termed them as crimes against humanity.

“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 State is unacceptable”, COAS Munir concluded.