Chairman Punjab Higher Education Commission Professor Dr Muhammad Nizamuddin, Ambassador of Tajikistan to Pakistan Mr Jononov Sherali, Afghan Senator Arifullah Pashtoon, PU VC Professor Dr Zaffar Mueen Nasir, Chairman Muslim Institute Islamabad Sultan Ahmed Ali, Professor Dr Muhammad Saleem Mazhar, national and international research scholars, faculty members and a large number of students were present on the occasion.
Addressing the ceremony, Hussain Bani Asadi said that Maulana Rumi and Sultan Bahu were among the greatest personalities of the world and their message enlightened hearts and souls. He said that Maulana Rumi saw killings and bloodshed in his era but his teachings gave lesson of love only and he did not preach hate or revenge ever. He said that Maulana Rumi has spread light and removed darkness and he preached teachings of renowned saint Shams Tabraiz.
He said that unfortunately, hate and enmity were spreading in the world so it was the dire need of the time to preach teachings of Maulana Rumi in order to spread love and friendship in the world. Tajikistan's Ambassador Sher Ali Jana said that we could take help from the teachings of Rumi and Bahu to cope with the threats we were facing in today's era. He said that steps must be taken to ensure spread of their teachings at mass scale at international level.
Afghanistan's Senator Arifullah Pashtoon said that Sufis had given the message of following teachings of Islam and they had taught to love each other. However, he said, we had forgot their lesson because of which we were facing problems. He said that we need to establish peace and stop violence.
He said that Allama Iqbal had said that if there would be peace in Afghanistan, there would be peace in Asia and if there would be unrest in Afghanistan, there would be unrest in Asia. He said that both Sultan Bahu and Maulana Rumi gave the message of establishing peace.
Chairman Punjab Higher Education Commission Professor Dr Nizamuddin said that we need to think why there was intolerance, extremism and terrorism in our society. He said that we need to spread teachings of Maulana Rumi and Sultan Bahu to promote peace, harmony and brotherhood in the world. He said that we needed to strengthen dialogue to establish peace and harmony in the society. He said that Maulana Rumi had been recognized at world level for establishment of peace.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017