By Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi Monday called upon the Ulema to play their role to discourage the phenomenon of fake news and promote Islamic moral values including tolerance among the people to create peace and harmony in the society.
The president, addressing the Paigham-e-Pakistan Ulema and Mashaikh Conference held by Pakistan Ulema Council, said the fake news termited the Muslim societies and cited the destruction of Iraq in name of the weapons of mass destruction.
The objective of the conference was to launch a movement in 2022-23 to create awareness on the contemporary issues including extremism and terrorism, sectarian violence, minorities’ rights, climate change, rising intolerance and impatience in society and a way out and population growth.
It would also focus on maternal and child health, social media and the implications of fake news, Islam’s position on cleanliness and the implementation of Peghame-Pakistan’s Code of Conduct.
He said the incidents like Peshawar and Sialkot were part of a conspiracy to fan sectarianism in the country.
He said there was no room for mob justice in Islam and that the tendency had been promoted by the social media as the youth interpreted the words of their leaders keeping in view their own biases.
The president also underscored the responsibility of the parents to teach morality to their kids as per the Islamic values, through the government was also striving to address the subject by introducing a single national curriculum.
He said the mosques and pulpit used to be a source of guidance for the people on political and social issues like diplomacy, cleanliness, women’s inheritance rights which had been guaranteed by Islam 1400 years ago.
President Alvi advised the Ulema to highlight the importance of human rights instead of indulging in petty differences.
Lauding Pakistan’s stance on the Ukraine issue, the president questioned the double standards of the western nations for making hue and cry on the issue and keeping mum over the human rights abuses in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Middle East and Africa.
He told the gathering that keeping up the moral values, Pakistan hosted four million Afghan refugees for four years and reiterated that the world was yearning for morality-based world order.
