Speakers Call For Educating People On Interfaith Harmony, Tolerance, Peace

The speakers at a seminar urged the major stakeholders of society including religious leaders, academia, media representatives, legislators to deliberate upon the future course to educate people on possible repercussions of misuse of charity and interfaith harmony besides stressing on tolerance for peace and resilience building

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Aug, 2019 ) :The speakers at a seminar urged the major stakeholders of society including religious leaders, academia, media representatives, legislators to deliberate upon the future course to educate people on possible repercussions of misuse of charity and interfaith harmony besides stressing on tolerance for peace and resilience building.

They also recognized the role and responsibilities of religious leaders, academia, media representatives, legislators and relevant government officials as opinion makers in the society.

The seminar titled "Safer Charity Practices and Promotion of Messages of Paigham e Pakistan" arranged by Pakistan Peace Collective in collaboration with National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) and University of Lahore held at Islamia degree college, Kasur, said a press release issued here Monday.

Deputy Commissioner Kasur was the chief guest of the occasion while member of civil society organizations, media representatives, local government representatives and religious scholars from different faiths also participated in the seminar.

Welcoming the participants, Advisor to the Chairman University of Lahore Nazir Hussain said all religious leaders including Muslim religious scholars of various sects, representatives of other religions like Christianity, Hinduism, and Sikh can play a vital role to promote inter faith harmony for peaceful coexistence in wake of the current social circumstances.

Highlighting charity practices and patterns in Pakistan, Manager Community Engagement, and Pakistan Peace Collective Mr. Khurram Shahzad said, "Pakistan was one of the leading countries in the region in terms of charity giving".

The annual quantum of donation was around Rs.554 billion in the form of Sadqat, Zakat, Khairat and Fitrana etc. Animal skins/ Hides were also a major component of charity giving practices.

He said that due to lack of awareness regarding existing laws and policies both on charity giving and charity-collection, there was possibility of misuse of charity money.

He informed the participants that Pakistan Peace Collectives was tasked to develop a media campaign to raise awareness among public on safer charity giving practices and to inculcate a sense of vigilance while giving charity.

In this regards a media campaign 'Haq Haqdar tak' was developed in 2014 which was disseminated through tv and Radio channels. Since 2015 'Haq- Haqdar-Tak', campaign was supplemented by District Level Engagement Programme (DLEP) to reach out to the communities at grassroots level in major districts of Pakistan, AJK and Gilgit Baltistan.

Hafiz Muhammad Numan Hamid, Executive Director of World Council of Religion, highlighted the importance of message of Paigham e Pakistan and said that this was a unanimous declaration of scholars from all school of thought against the menace of terrorism and extremism.

Dr. Hmmad Lakhvi, Chairman Islamic studies department of Punjab University said that there is need to promote inclusive citizenship in society as all citizen, whether they are Muslim or non-Muslims they have equal rights in Pakistan.

Addressing the concluding session of the seminar, Deputy Commissioner Kasur, applauded the role of Pakistan peace collective, NACTA and University of Punjab for organizing such a useful event to orientate different segments of society on safe giving practices and promotion of interfaith harmony.

Taking about safe charity practices, he said, "We should be vigilant and careful while giving the animal hides/ skins as charity on the occasion of Eid-ul Adhza, so that the organizations banned by the government of Pakistan should not be benefited by the charity money".