Renowned cleric and Ruet-e-Hilal Committee chairperson Mufti Muneebur Rehman appealed to the President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice of Pakistan and Chief of Army Staff to take action against those undermining religious harmony and spreading hatred on the basis of sectarianism in the country.
He was addressing the Tahafuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat-o-Azmat-e-Sahaba-o-Ahl-e-Bait march on Saturday. The rally, organised by religious parties in Karachi, was carried out on MA Jinnah Road, up until Tibet Centre.
"We respect everyone's belief and so everyone should respect ours as well," said Rehman, adding that the rally was against an act hurting the religious sentiments of many Muslims in the country. "We have the right to protest peacefully."
He appealed to the President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice of Pakistan and Chief of Army Staff to take action against those undermining religious harmony and spreading hatred in the country.
He further said Pakistan should raise the issue of blasphemy and ways to avoid it in the future in international forums, while MPs should raise it in the national and provincial assemblies.
The previous day, religious scholars under the Karachi Ulema Committee addressed people at Sharae Quaideen.
Relating Mufti Taqi Usmani's message, Maulana Rahat Hashmi called for effective legislation for avoiding blasphemy and restricting the timings and locations of processions.
The scholars said that Pakistan as an Islamic Republic should suspend its diplomatic relations with the countries where blasphemy has been done and raise the issue in Organization of Islamic Countries.
They demanded that the legislation for defining code of conduct for religious gatherings should also be done and an authoritative board should be established for avoiding the spread of sectarianism.
Published in The Express Tribune, Septe0mber 13th, 2020.
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