Be tolerant of others’ religion, beliefs: Qureshi tells int’l moot

Reiterates demand to designate an ‘International Day to Combat Islamophobia’

ISLAMABAD:

Highlighting the rise of Islamophobia at a disturbing rate, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi urged the international community to promote tolerance amongst religions and respect for others' beliefs.

The top diplomat shared his views during a high-level virtual meeting of the Group of Friends of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment to the promotion of inter-faith and inter-cultural harmony,

He added that Pakistan has already exhibited a step in the right direction by opening the world's largest Gurdwara and Kartarpur Corridor for the Sikh community.

The foreign minister also expressed serious concerns over some individuals’ and states’ tendency to exploit fears related to the ongoing pandemic to stoke racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, stigmatisation and violence against vulnerable minorities, including in the neighbour state.

Qureshi further cautioned that the alarm bells for ‘clash of civilisations’ were still reverberating around the world.

The foreign minister reiterated the call made by Prime Minister Imran Khan to universally outlaw willful provocation and incitement to hate and violence, and to designate an ‘International Day to Combat Islamophobia’.

A day ago, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi urged the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to declare an 'International Day to combat Islamophobia' and to build a resilient coalition to end the scourge.

Addressing the meeting of the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations via videolink, the foreign minister called for declaring willful provocations and incitement to hate and violence as universally outlawed.

The minister cited growing populism and mainstreaming contempt through unregulated social media platforms as two major reasons for the rise in Islamophobia.