‘Interfaith Christmas Dinner’ hosted by PIL The Pakistan Interfaith League (PIL)hosted the annual ‘Interfaith Christmas Dinner’ at a local hotel last evening. PIL is a socio-political movement comprising a network of religious scholars, clerics, political workers, journalists, lawyers, academia, students, civil society representatives, and members of corporate sector specifically focusing to promote interfaith harmony, peace and collective wisdom in their respective domains. Sajid Ishaq, Chairman PIL and Central President of Minorities of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) set the tradition of hosting the ‘Interfaith Christmas Dinner’ in 2005 and since then the Christmas dinner has been held each year by bringing together people belonging to all faiths, under one roof. The annual event has been successful in providing a platform to people from different religious beliefs to join in the celebrations of Christmas and share the joy and blessings of this month.Promotion of Peace is only possible when we accept people belonging to other religious faiths as equal humans and for that it is important to understand each other’s faiths, traditions and customs. Mr. Imran KhanChairman PTI was the Chief Guest at the occasion. The event was attended by Bishop Ishaq Mazhar Chairman NBCP, a large number of PTI Senior Members, Senior Bureaucrats, Ambassadors, High Commissioners, Diplomats and Religious Scholars from different faiths, representatives of the Civil Society, Provincial, Divisional and District Presidents and General Secretaries of PTI and political workers. ChairmanPIL, Sajid Ishaq, welcomed the distinguished guests and wished them a Merry Christmas. He said that Christmas is the time when we share our joys and blessings with those who are less privileged.He expressed sorrow on the present state of affairs in the country where religious intolerance and religious extremism are consistently on the rise. He said that Pakistan is in desperate need of Interfaith Harmony and the “Interfaith Christmas Dinner” is an endeavour to promote Interfaith Harmony among various stakeholders. Addressing the Chairman PTI, Mr. Imran Khan, Sajid Ishaq said that the Minorities of Pakistan welcome the concept of a “New Pakistan”however the minorities hope that the “New Pakistan” would be a country where the religious minorities are considered equal citizens; where there are no discriminatory laws for the minorities; where lives and property of the minorities are protected and safeguarded against harassment, torture, disrespect, murder and arson; where the minorities have access to justice; where the minorities are given proper representation in the parliament according to their true population figures. Sajid Ishaq said that the minorities of Pakistan demand their rights in accordance to theArticle 27 of the Constitution of Pakistan which says, “…safeguard against discrimination in services”, and Article 36, “The State shall safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the Minorities including their due representation in the federal and provincial services.” Sajid Ishaq also highlighted the fact that the vacant seat of the Senate in the KP awaits nomination and he requested the PTI Chairman to kindly ensure that a Christian is nominated for the said seat as presently there is no representation of the Christians in the National or Provincial Assemblies while a large number of Christian community lives in the KP and other provinces. Sajid Ishaq also demanded from the Government to re-establish the National Harmony Ministry as before so that the interests of the Minorities are not ignored and are well represented at the Federal level and issues related to interfaith harmony are addressed. Appreciating the endeavors of Governor of KP, Chairman PIL said that the handing back of Edward’s College Peshawar to the Christian Community was indeed a great milestone for PTI. Chairman PIL requested Chairman PTI to pass a legislation for imposing severe punishment on those who address the Religious Minority members with derogatory, discriminatory and humiliating nicknames, especially the people who are working as janitors. Remembering the victims of Kot Radha Kishan tragedy, Sajid Ishaq again demandedthat the Governmentshould provide a fair and just trial to the victims and their family. He said that if the Government is able to provide justice to the Minorities this time then it will succeed in sending a strong message to the masses that religious extremists will not be tolerated. Speaking on the occasion, the PTI Chairman, Imran Khan, extended his felicitations to the Christian Community on the occasion of Christmas. He applauded the untiring efforts of PIL in being the voice of the voiceless and its endeavors for the promotion of Peace through Interfaith Harmony festivities. He said that PTI is gravely saddened by the increasing incidents of religious intolerance in the country and extended his condolences to the families that have lost their family members because of these heinous incidents. Chairman PTI expressed sorrow on the discrimination meted out to the minorities in Pakistan and said that when PTI comes into power, all citizens of Pakistan will be treated on the basis of humanity and justice will be provided to all on the basis of equality; there will be Rule of Law instead of the Jungle Law prevalent at the moment and no member of the Religious Minority will be subjugated to discriminatory and derogatory behavior. He said that he strongly believed that the Religious Minorities should be given their right to true representation at the Federal and Provincial levels and that “New Pakistan” will be a place of Peace and blessings for all citizens of Pakistan. He assured Mr. Sajid Ishaq that he will give serious consideration on the implementation of the important points highlighted by him in his address for the restoration of justice for the minorities in Pakistan and will endeavor to curb the biased and derogatory attitudes directed towards them in any language.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 04:01:10 +0000
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