ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan met Islamabad-based ambassadors of countries belonging to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Monday and briefed them about Pakistan’s efforts at the international level to create awareness against Islamophobia.
Last October, Khan wrote a letter to leaders of Muslim countries calling for collective action to counter what he called a growing trend of Islamophobia.
“The Prime Minister stressed that Pakistan’s initiatives were aimed at building mutual understanding and promoting inter-faith harmony,” a statement from his office, released on Monday after Khan’s meeting with OIC envoys, said. “Noting that Islamophobic acts fan inter-religious hatred and disharmony among civilizations, the Prime Minister called for addressing the underlying reasons for the rise in such incidents worldwide. Falsely equating Islam with radicalism and terrorism, he added, was leading to the marginalization and stigmatization of Muslims.”
Khan said the vilification of Islamic precepts and religious personalities, wrongly justified under the pretext of the right to freedom of expression or opinion, hurt the sentiments of 1.5 billion Muslims around the world.
“The Prime Minister urged the OIC to work together for making the international community understand the deep-rooted love and reverence of all Muslims for the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) and the Holy Qur’an,” the statement said. “The Prime Minister also underlined the need for instituting legal safeguards aimed at protecting the sensitivities of all religious groups. He underscored the imperative of OIC’s collective efforts to project the true image of Islam, and its message of peace and tolerance.”
