-Shares ‘knowledge city’ plan
By Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday reiterated the country’s commitment to continue playing its role in bringing peace and stability in war-ravaged Afghanistan.
Speaking at Pakistan-Afghanistan Trade and Investment Forum in Islamabad, he underscored that peace in the neighbouring country is vital to boosting trade and economic activities in the region to bring prosperity and provide job opportunities to people.
The prime minister Imran Khan said Pakistan has suffered the most due to decades-old unrest in Afghanistan that created differences, suspicion and mistrust between Islamabad and Kabul. “We need to ponder what lessons we have learnt from the past,” he stressed.
Prime Minister Khan voiced Pakistan’s concerns regarding India’s hostile posture towards it and the Muslims, saying Delhi could use Afghan soil to cause instability in Pakistan.
“Our government has decided to strengthen ties with Kabul, no matter who is in power, to counter India’s evil designs,” he said.
“Our future lies in better ties and trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan,” he said, adding efforts are underway to foster ties with Afghan businessmen to benefit from each other’s experiences and give impetus to trade and economic activities.
“We have to take our country towards industrialisation and formulate such policies that lead to wealth creation in the country,” he emphasised. PM Imran Khan said no foreign intervention in Afghanistan has ever been successful. Afghans should be left to their own devices to elect a government of their choose, he added.
Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan Sunday had written a letter to Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, asking him to place a similar ban on Islamophobia and hate against Islam that has been put in place for the Holocaust.
According to the text of PM’s letter shared by PM Office media wing, the prime minister drew CEO’s attention to the growing Islamophobia that was encouraging hate, extremism and violence across the world and especially through the use of social media platforms including Facebook.
“Given the rampant abuse and vilification of Muslims on social media platforms, I would ask you to place a similar ban on Islamophobia and hate against Islam for Facebook that you have put in place for the Holocaust,” he added.
The prime minister said the message of hate must be banned in total – ‘one cannot send a message that while hate messages against some are unacceptable, these are acceptable against others. Nor should the world have to wait for a pogrom against Muslims, which is ongoing in countries like India and in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, to be completed before Islamophobia is banned. This in itself is reflective of prejudice and bias that will encourage further radicalization.’Prime Minister Khan while referring to Mark Zuckerberg’s step of banning any posts that criticized or questioned the Holocaust, which was the culmination of the Nazi pogrom of the Jews in Germany and across Europe as Nazis spread across Europe, said that today they were seeing a similar pogrom against Muslims in different parts of the world.
“Unfortunately, in some states, Muslims are being denied their citizenship rights and their democratic personal choices from dress to worship. In India, anti-Muslim laws and measures such as CAA and NRC as well as targeted killings of Muslims and blaming Muslims for coronavirus are reflective of the abominable phenomenon of Islamophobia,” he added.In France, the prime minister said, Islam has been associated with terrorism and publication of blasphemous caricatures targeting Islam and the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) had been allowed.
“This will lead to further polarization and marginalization of Muslims in France. How will the French distinguish between radical extremist Muslim citizens and the mainstream Muslim citizenry of Islam? we have seen how marginalization inevitably leads to extremism – something the world does not need,” the prime minister cautioned.
