The Institute of National Affairs (Pina) has praised the role of media to control flaring of sectarian strife on the occasion of Ashura and said it had covered and disseminated the sad episode of Ashura in very responsible manner, which helped arresting the flaring-up of the sectarian fire further in the country.
It further said "equally appreciable is the role of the Ulema of all sects who have appealed in their speeches for observing peace and tranquillity by their followers. The response of the Federal Government and the Punjab Government has been quick. A commission under Justice Mamoon Rashid of the High Court has been constituted to carry out judicial inquiry into the Rawalpindi incident and fix responsibility on the culprits."
The Executive Committee of Pina held a special meeting here on Monday to take stock of the situation arising out of the Rawalpindi sad incident. The Executive Committee condemned those elements that are bent upon to creating fissure among the Muslim Umma in order to spread chaos in the country and appealed to intellectuals, professionals, religious scholars and academicians to come forward and ensure through their response to maintain peace, harmony and tolerance in the society.
Pina hoped that as a result of the Commission's report on the incident, strict legal action would be taken against the culprits of the heinous crime of killing and arson in Rawalpindi. Pina observed that Punjab Government had also set up an administrative committee to probe into the evil event. However, it suggested that the committee might be complemented with neutral and non-controversial persons from the civil society, which would add credibility to its findings.
Pina expressed the hope that all concerned, especially Ulema and the media would maintain their stance to sustain peace and harmony in the public. It further hoped that all sections, the public in general, would observe peace and would not allow themselves to fall prey to rumour mongering.
It was heartening that Milli Yakjehti Council had been revived which hopefully would ensure tolerance and peace in the cross section represented by them, it added. The meeting was presided over by Pina Secretary General Altaf Hasan Qureshee and attended by Professor Dr Shafiq Jalandhary, Professor Dr Raza-ul-Haq Syed, Professor Dr Ejaz Hasan Qureshi, Jhanagir A Jhojha Senior Advocate of Supreme Court, Eminent Columnist Salman Abid, Senior Journalist Rauf Tahir, Defence Analyst Brigadier Farooq Hemeed Khan (Retd), Ajmal Shahdin Editor The Banker, well known novelist Ms Salma Awan and National Director Pina Rahmad Ali Mujahid.
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