Promoting interfaith harmony: JUI-F’s minority MP to visit top seminaries

Asiya Nasir believes campaign will show Pakistan is a safe place for minorities

ISLAMABAD: Minority lawmaker Asiya Nasir on Saturday announced plans to visit the country’s leading Madrassas in an effort to promote interfaith harmony.

Nasir, who represents the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) in the National Assembly, said that she will begin her campaign by visiting seminaries in Islamabad before moving on to the provinces.

“It is the need of the hour to take such initiatives as the country faces multiple problems with regards to minorities which need to be addressed,” Nasir told The Express Tribune.

The legislator said that she took up the initiative after taking the party’s leadership into confidence.

She said the aim of the campaign, apart from promoting interfaith harmony, is to remove the negative impression associated with religious seminaries. She believed that linking seminaries with terrorism is unfair as neither Islam nor Christianity preach such teachings.

Nasir explained that her visit will send a strong message to the world that Pakistan is a safe place for minorities and that seminaries do not promote terrorism and extremism in the country. The JUI-F lawmaker also revealed that she is planning to invite other lawmakers from different political parties, on reserved seats for minorities, to take part in her visit.

“I feel no hesitation in inviting other minority lawmakers to join me, irrespective of their party affiliation,” said the lawmaker from Balochistan. The JUI-F legislator said that she will hold a meeting soon with other minority lawmakers to request them to support her initiative.

PTI lawmaker Lal Chand Malhi when approached about the visit said that he appreciated the initiative. He added that he will visit the Madrassas once he receives a formal invitation from Nasir. “PTI has differences with JUI-F at a political level. But I feel no hesitation in visiting the religious seminaries with her”, said the PTI legislator.

Malhi believes that minority lawmakers can play an important role in forging religious harmony in the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 11^th, 2016.