ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday extended support to members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) by observing the International Day to Combat Islamophobia for the first time.

“The OIC’s unanimous support for the designation of this Day is a reflection of the sentiments of billions of Muslims around the world,” the Foreign Office said in statement.

“Marking this occasion, the OIC Group will hold a High-Level Event in New York on 17 March 2021,” it added.

In November last year, at the 47th session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) in Niamey, Niger, Islamabad had presented a resolution to designate March 15 as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia.

“The resolution was unanimously adopted by the CFM. The OIC is now working with the international community to commemorate this Day at the global level,” the statement said.

It added that the scourge of Islamophobia, “fueled by populism, hate speech, and lack of knowledge and disinformation,” was causing “unimaginable suffering” to Muslim minorities around the world.

“Islamophobia has taken many forms including...negative profiling, mob lynchings by cow vigilantes, discriminatory laws, attacks on women wearing hijabs, ban on minarets...and attempts to link and equate Islam with terrorism,” the statement said, citing a few examples, adding that by marking the occasion, Pakistan intends to send a message of “international solidarity and cooperation.”

“We remain determined to promote values of peaceful co-existence as well as inter-faith and cultural harmony,” it said.