Among others the session was also attended by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. The President said, "We believe in tolerant Islam and have to counter those, who believe in hate, with peaceful efforts." Referring to the fight against terror in Afghanistan, the President said more than three decades of war could not bring peace and Pakistan was the worst affected by turmoil in Afghanistan.
He said there was time when no one in Pakistan could think of blowing himself up as a bomber as Islam was against suicide. People at that time lived in peace and harmony and there were no sectarian issues but then global politics changed the situation when religion was used as a weapon of war, he added. He said there was a need for adopting the approach of peace and reconciliation to eliminate the menace of extremism and terrorism.
President Zardari said that the world has not yet fully realised the dangerous consequences of using religion and faith as a weapon of war. He said that after witnessing the dire consequences of using religion as a tool to win wars, the world cannot afford to allow anyone use the religion for their vested interests.
Spokesperson to the President Senator Farhatullah Babar while giving details said that the President in his speech recalled the prescient words of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto during a conversation with George Bush when she had said that a veritable Frankenstein was being created to defeat the rival ideology. Spokesperson said that the President during his speech dilated upon how militants were created and nurtured by the international community to defeat a rival ideology and the same militants had turned on its creators as was predicted by Shaheed Benazir Bhutto.
The President said that it was disturbing to see that the values of tolerance and harmony were fast eroding during present times. He said the extremists have destroyed the peace in the name of religion. He said that extremism was not confined to any one religion or country. It was growing the world over and was an alarming trend.
Recalling his meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon in the UAE in January 2010, the President said that he had appealed to UN Secretary General that the United Nations should work out special plans for promoting cultural and religious harmony. He said that he made that appeal because we believe that rationality and sanity were fast eroding. "We must act before rationality is completely destroyed," the President continued. The President said that Pakistan fully supports the universal values of tolerance and harmony promoted by the UN.
That is why, he said, we urge the UN to take practical steps for promoting religious harmony and tolerance. The President said that the values of tolerance and harmony cannot be divided into Islamic or Christian. Efforts for promotion of tolerance and harmony must be across the religious and geographical divides.
"We must guard against making exceptions and selectivity. Exceptions and selectivity will not promote harmony. If anything, it will only further increase it," he said. While, expressing support for a greater role of the UN in promoting harmony, the President emphasised the need of collective efforts to resolve conflicts and disputes, especially where these involve friction between different religions and faiths.
The President said, "we must extend developmental support to those societies which are faced with interfaith friction or extremism." Such support, he said, should be aimed at poverty alleviation and human development. President Zardari said, "we believe that Inter-faith dialogue should include religious leaders and scholars from across faiths and cultures."
He said, "we welcome UN Secretary General's establishment of a Commission of Eminent Persons to promote "An alliance of Civilisations and we think that the Secretary General should also create a UN Office for Interfaith Co-operation." The Spokesperson said that the President on the occasion reaffirmed the resolve of the Government to continue fighting against the forces of extremism and religious bigotry by promoting democratic values of reconciliation, tolerance and dialogue and by propagating message of peace and harmony as taught to us by our religion.
The President said that democratic culture was a critical tool to promote tolerance, peace and harmony. It is an effective weapon, the President said, to end violence and extremism. It is also the instrument for alleviating the sufferings of our non-Muslim brethren. On this occasion the President also paid homage to the courageous advocates of interfaith harmony. The President said that Shahbaz Bhatti was one of them who laid down his life fighting the cause of interfaith harmony.
Like Shahbaz Bhatti, he continued, there are countless others who laid down their lives fighting for the cause of promoting religious tolerance and interfaith harmony. "They are our national heroes. Let us demonstrate that their blood was not shed in vain."
Commenting on Government's steps for promoting religious harmony and the uplift of minorities, the President said that protection of the rights of all citizens- Muslims and non Muslims alike was one of the main agendas of the Government. He said that the Government was striving to empower non Muslim brothers and to end discrimination against them. He said that despite belonging to different faiths, "we were one nation and together we would march for a prosperous Pakistan."
The President said that we are committed to a modern, tolerant and progressive Pakistan. He said that the foundations of Pakistan of our vision were laid by the Quaid-e-Azam in his speech on August 11, 1947. Advisor to Prime Minister on National Harmony Dr Paul Bhatti, speaking on the occasion, said since its inception in 2011, the Ministry of National Harmony took several important steps to promote harmony and interfaith dialogue.
Former Chief Justice Rana Bhagwan Das, addressing the conference, said the challenge of extremism and terrorism could be addressed through unity and tolerance. Chairman Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Mufti Muneebur Rehman read out declaration of the conference that called for establishing a National Council for Interfaith Harmony consisting of representatives from different faiths. The conference also recommended formation of local level committees to promote national harmony.
It also recommended discarding use of the word 'minorities' replacing it with some appropriate word like Non-Muslim Pakistanis. The conference recommended encouragement of inter-faith dialogue and steps to be taken by the international community to address root causes of terrorism. It condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and emphasised the need that terrorism should not be attributed to a particular group, nation or religion.