Protesters came out to condemn the attack on a mosque in Quebec City and to express their desire for interfaith harmony in the world. PHOTO: ATHAR KHAN/EXPRESS
A protest was organised by the Interfaith Commission for Peace and Harmony (ICPH) and Saint Patrick's Cathedral Church where Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Hindus all marked their condemnation of the attack and chanted slogans in favour of peace.
Father Saleh Diego, who is the director of the National Commission for Justice and Peace, said that the whole Christian community condemns the attack on worshipers at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City. He added that it highlights the intolerance against Muslims living in areas where they are minorities.
Father Diego said that the attack is an example of increasing intolerance in the world and members of all faiths should come together to counter this menace of terrorism.
ICPH chief executive Allama Ahsan Siddiqui said that members of all the faiths should talk about peace in current circumstances, as unfortunately intolerance is gripping the world but with unity we can eliminate rising intolerance and interfaith harmony in our society can prevail.
Siddiqi also said that the government of Canada should confront this threat of violence towards minorities otherwise these different communities will fight each other and harm interfaith harmony and peace. He said that minorities here in Pakistan have also faced targeted attacks but they have always talked about peace in return. "Our mission is to keep all the people of Pakistan, whatever faith he or she belong to, united under the national flag," he said.
Representing the Sikh community, Sardar Ramesh Singh was of the view that the incident in Quebec is highly condemnable. He added that those killed were innocents who were targeted because they were practicing their faith. Singh said the Sikh community condemns any such attack against any community.
A protester, Pundit Nauratan Das, told The Express Tribune said that everywhere in the world, people should talk about unity and harmony among the different faiths. He added that the attack on Muslims in Quebec is just like an attack on Hindus in their temple. "We stand united with our Muslim brothers during tough times," he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 3rd, 2017.
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