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First Interfaith Seminar on |
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"Role of Journalists, Lawyers and Religious Leadership in Peace Building" | ||
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All religions preach peace, love & tolerance and are against violence and extremism. This was the crux of a one-day seminar on "Role of Journalists, Lawyers and Religious Leadership in Peace-Building" at a local on Wednesday 30th July 2004. The Christian Study Centre (CSC), Rawalpindi, arranged the seminar. Religious leaders of Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Bahahi, NGO workers, journalists and lawyers attended the event. The aim of the seminar was to discuss and promote values of love, tolerance, pluralism and respect for difference of opinion. The participants expressed concern over growing extremism in Pakistan and called for collective efforts to promote the values of peace, love, unity & tolerance. Dr. Aslam Khaki, a Muslim scholar, said that all religions were against violence and preaching peace. |
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Quraysh Khattak speaks at a seminar on "Role of Journalists, Lawyers and Religious Leadership in Peace Building" while Mehboob Sada, Director of the Christian Study Centre, and Ali Gohar look on- The News |
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He said people irrespective of their religious belief must stand up against extremism and intolerance. |
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Rev Irfan Jamil, a Christian priest and
religious scholar, said religious leaders could play a very important role
in peace building because they as opinion leaders are heard and respected
in their respective communities. He was of the view that peace building
was an obligation for every true Christian. Prof Suraj Narian spoke about
Hindu perspective about peace. "Peace is the foundation of Hinduism" he
opined. Fawad Akhatari spoke about Bhahai perspective of peace. He called for disarmament and said the money spent on weapons should be allocated for welfare of the people. Kamran Arif Advocate, a human rights activist, talked about lawyers' role in peace building. Quraysh Khattak, a journalist, talked about role of journalists in promotion of peace. He said reporters could positively contribute to peace process through creative journalism. He suggested that civil society organizations and journalists should form alliances for peace building in the country. Dr. Qibla Ayaz, Dr Sarah Safdar, Rakhshanda Naz of the Aurat Foundation, Mian Islam Gul and Ali Gohar presided over different sessions of the seminar. Mehboob Sada, director of the CSC, also spoke on the occasion. At the end of the seminar it unanimously adopted statement, the participants condemned all kinds of terrorism and violence and asked the government to crub the crime of hate speech.
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