Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday said that the government was not amending blasphemy law. Addressing 'Ulema and Mashaikh conference' organized with the theme of religious tolerance in Islam, Gilani said, "the acts of violence bring bad name to Islam and make the lives of Pakistanis settled in the West as miserable. So the need is that Islam should be portrayed in its true essence and perspective."
He called upon the Ulema and Mashaikh to spread Islam's teachings of tolerance and respect it gives to other religions. He reiterated that the government was not amending blasphemy law. He said his government believed in taking along all political forces and appreciated the opposition for being supportive of the government on all national issues. He said that issue of syllabus would be referred to Inter Provincial Co-ordination (IPCC) ministry.
Addressing the conference Maulana Niaz Hussain Naqvi said the government should maintain law and order in the country instead of organising Ulema and Mashaikh Conference as innocent people were being killed on daily basis. He said that maintaining law and order was the primary responsibility of the government but the government failed in fulfilling this responsibility.
"People are being killed and not a single person involved in the crime was punished. This would not have happened even if one person was punished," he added. He said that organizing conference was not a bad thing but peace could not be achieved merely by organizing such conference.
Syed Khurshid Shah, Minister for Religious Affairs underlined the need for a proper strategy to promote religious tolerance and called for working to promote welfare of the people. The Minister said rights of minorities must be protected. Minister of State for Religious Affairs, Shagufta Jumani also spoke on the occasion along with Maulana Hanif Jalandhri, Ghulam Muhammad Sialvi, Allama Zubair Ahmed Zaheer and other religious scholars.