Chairman Senate Muhammedmian Soomro has underscored the need for promoting inter-faith harmony and tolerance to spread the message of love, amity and understanding among followers of different faiths and religions to make the present day strife-torn world secure and peaceful.
He was talking to Labour MP of Pakistani origin in New Zealand Parliament, Dr Ashraf Chaudhry, who called on him here on Wednesday. He was accompanied by Dr Abdul Majid, Country Representative, International Center for Agriculture Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).
The Chairman said all religions preach tolerance and love for humanity. This is high time to bring out commonalities in different religions to promoting better understanding at the local and international levels, he observed. He said media and civil society organisations could play a useful role in this regard.
He informed the visiting MP that minorities in Pakistan are enjoying complete religious freedom and their special occasions like Christmas and Dewali etc are celebrated with fervour. Dr Ashraf Chaudhry said misperceptions about Islam and the Muslims must come to an end. Some sections of the western media were unnecessarily raising the boggy of Islamophobia.
He disclosed that he is the only Muslim MP in New Zealand, which has a Muslim population of about 40,000, and informed that this year Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations were also held in NZ Parliament. The MP added that dairy farming and higher education are the two areas where Pakistan and New Zealand could further promote their co-operation as it offers immense possibilities.
He informed that there are nearly 100 Pakistani students in New Zealand doing their Ph.D. This number could be increased further with mutual agreement. It was observed that Overseas Pakistanis are a very valuable asset as well as resource for the country, which must be tapped to its full potential. The Pakistani diaspora is making useful contribution in a lot many countries but these are mostly going unnoticed.
The New Zealand MP stressed the need to highlight Pakistan's contribution for the sake of world peace and its role in the war on terror. He suggested the country must send delegations abroad comprising such people who can enlighten the western media and public on the contribution made by Pakistan. "The world must know what Pakistan has done to make others lives secure and peaceful, whether it is peace keeping or fighting extremism and extremists," he added.
It was also observed that peace and tranquillity must return to South Asia for accelerated development of the region. Soomro said Pakistan is all out for de-escalation and tension free relations with all its neighbours. Peace, he said, is the essential pre-requisite for development. He said that the country is too keen to learn from New Zealand's experience in agriculture and livestock especially techniques for better conservation and judicious use of water.
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