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| Friday, 20 February 2004 |
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Musharraf seeks Islamic scholars' help in anti-terror drive ISLAMABAD, Thursday (AFP) President Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday called upon the country's clerics and Islamic scholars to launch a nationwide movement to rid the country of terrorism and extremism. "We should launch a movement against terrorism and extremism at national and provincial levels," Musharraf said at a day-long convention of some 2,000 religious scholars and clerics from all sects of Muslims from across the country. Officials said this was "the biggest gathering" of religious leaders held in the country so far. The convention has been convened to promote religious harmony and eradicate the twin menaces of terrorism and extremism from society, they said. The participants, mostly bearded and turbanned, chanted slogans of "Allah-o-Akbar (God is the greatest)" and "Long live Islam" as Musharraf dressed in his military uniform started his speech. He called upon the participants to promote unity and harmony and to root out sectarian violence. "We are all Muslims and we should not indulge in highlighting differences between Shiite and Sunni Muslim sects. We should not try to impose our views on others," he said. Condemning religious militancy, he said: "Islam is a religion of peace, it preaches harmony and peaceful co-existence". He called upon the clerics and scholars to correct the image abroad that Pakistani society was dominated by conservative and extremist elements. Religious scholars should help the government in dealing with elements promoting violence, he said. |
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