ISLAMABAD:Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Interfaith Harmony and Middle East Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi on Sunday urged the Honorable Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial and other worthy judges of the apex court to take immediate measures to defuse the ongoing tension.
Addressing a press conference here, he said the Supreme Court of Pakistan was the most important institution in the country.
Ashrafi, who is also the chairman of Pakistan Ulema Council, further asked the CJP to sit together with his other fellow judges and remove purported differences amicably.
He lamented that thousands of cases were pending before the Supreme Court and in the lower courts of the country where the litigants were seeking justice for a long time, asking the courts to lessen the pendency of cases.
He said political parties should resolve their differences at the negotiation table instead of inviting a third force to intervene in their affairs. He said the nation wanted an environment of political pluralism to resolve economic crises which had completely gripped every person’s lives from all walks of life.
He said Pakistan, besides facing social, political, and economic challenges,its young generation was being demoralized by polarization and extremism these days.
Ashrafi said we should take collective efforts to prevent the burgeoning fundamentalist approaches from penetrating the youth’s minds. He claimed due to the political instability the friends of Pakistan countries were not providing helping hands as they had some “apprehensions on the deteriorating circumstances of the country”.
He further held that if Pakistan manages to restore political stability in the country, it would be a precursor of up to 20 to 25 billion dollars in investment, expected from the Arab countries in the period of two to three years.
He further said if there would be peace in the country, Pakistan’s tourism sector could grow significantly as its northern areas were better than Switzerland. These places he said was a hub of religious places of Buddhist, Sikh and Hindu communities etc.
Ashrafi also condemned the murder of three non-Muslims belonging to Christian, Hindu and Sikh communities in the strongest terms and urged provincial governments to take immediate action against the culprits behind these tragic incidents. He further condemned the brutal attacks on the innocent people of Palestine since the advent of the holy month of Ramazan by the Israel forces causing death and destruction in the Bait-ul-Muqaddas.
He said the United Nations, Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and other international human rights watchdogs were paying lip service to the oppressed people of Palestine, instead of taking practical steps against these inhuman acts.
It was a high time to take result-oriented initiatives to resolve the Palestine and Kashmir issues in a more appropriate and peaceful manner, he added.
Dispelling the rumors of having trade ties with Israel, he categorically stated that Pakistan had no trade ties with Israel, adding that nobody could change the affiliation and stance of the Pakistani nation with the Palestinian people.
Ashrafi informed that Pakistan Ulema Council organized an international ‘Paigham-e-Islam Conference’ in the Convention Center, Islamabad every year, but this year, it was being held in a local hotel on Monday (April 10) due to the holy month of Ramazan.
He said besides political and religious leaders, Ulema and Mashaykh of international stature would participate and address the conference.