From Zeeshan Mirza
KARACHI: President Dr. Arif Alvi has said that the art of communication is vital to empower the women and put them to the path of development. While addressing the concluding ceremony of the 2nd annual conference on the development discourses and critiques at the IBA city campus here on Sunday, he said that the effective communication plays an important role in the development.
He said that some people could not adjust themselves to meet the needs of communication.
The President said that there are some tools and we have to acquire them to achieve our goals.
He further said that tool sets are available to improve the food production and health system.
The President said that it is the common perception in our society that the molvis are playing their role as obstacle to controlling population in the country, which is wrong. He said that they (Molvis) are here to help us.
He further said that there are 9 millions pregnancies in the country in a year and out of them 4 millions are unwanted. The President said that the women are not provided with equal rights even in the West. He said that the women have talent and they get admission into medical colleges 70 to 80 percent on merit in Pakistan.
He said that the effective communication is need of the hour to cope the challenges coming on the way to development. Earlier, Executive Director of the IBA, S Akbar Zaidi welcomed the President Dr. Arif Alvi to the Conference and said that they had very diverse discussions during the conference. He said that tiny to big issues have been tried to cover in the development conference including the discussions on the disability. He further said that the representation of the women has also been ensured. Earlier, President Dr Arif Alvi chaired a meeting of Ulema and religious scholars on reformation of society on Saturday.
The President was present at the meeting in Governor House Sindh along with local ulema while Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Pir Noorul Haq Qadri attended the meeting in Islamabad along with local ulema.
Different groups of Ulema from Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir attended the meeting through the video link.
The participants of the meeting discussed different topics including the coronavirus pandemic, role of ulema in reforming the society, ways to counter fake news and immorality, inheritance of women, cleanliness and Islamophobia and designation of international day to counter Islamophobia.
The participants noted that during the coronavirus pandemic, due to efforts of Ulema, the guidelines to prevent coronavirus were implemented and in the whole of the Islamic world, Pakistan was the only country where mosques and places of worship remained open.
Now the ulema could announce the relaxation in the restrictions against the coronavirus.
The participants agreed on a comprehensive code of ethics for the society.
According to the code, this year during Ramazan the restrictions against coronavirus would be relaxed but it was better to use masks inside buildings.
Cleanliness in the mosques and Imambargahs should be ensured as hygiene was an integral part of the faith, the Ulema declared.
The ulema congratulated the government and National Command Operation Center for the successful policy on the coronavirus plague and also thanked the nation for following their directions.
Ulema paid tribute to Prime Minister Imran Khan for his efforts at the international level to counter Islamophobia and protect the sanctity of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
It was suggested that ulema should create public awareness about the resolution in the United Nations against Islamophobia and its importance and necessity.
Ulema would continue to play their role and support the government efforts for resolution of social issues like health of mother and child, protection of environment, inheritance of women and population welfare.
Ulema expressed their concerns about fake news and decided to support the government efforts for coming up with solutions to counter fake news and communicate truth to the people and work on character building of the public.
They expressed concern on the negative effects of Islamophobia in India and Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJ&K).
They also condemned the acts of terrorism in Sialkot, Mian Channu, Sahiwal and Peshawar and asked the government to take measures to stop the incidents.
The religious leaders expressed concern at the rising trend of intolerance and asked the public to shun extremism.
The forum felicitated the government and foreign ministers of Organization of Islamic Cooperation on the successful holding of recent meeting in Islamabad.
