News
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Zardari seeks UN role in promoting religious harmony
* President meets UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon
* Says religious harmony fast eroding across globe
ABU DHABI: President Asif Ali Zardari made an impassioned plea on Tuesday to the United Nations to work out special plans for promoting cultural and religious harmony.
In a meeting with UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, on the sidelines of the fourth Energy Summit in UAE, Zardari warned that religious harmony was fast eroding across the globe, saying these tendencies also “crossed national boundaries and religious divides”.
Calling upon the UN to give special attention for promoting religious and cultural harmony in the world, Zardari said, “Extremism is being manifested in various forms including violence, intolerance.” “Not only there is disharmony between different cultures, but it is on the increase.”
Zardari said it was disturbing that in the wake of the war on terrorism “people were generally receding from the universal values of tolerance and harmony advocated by the UN.” “We are concerned over this trend which seems to corroborate the ominous theory of a clash of civilisations,” he added.
Zardari said that Pakistan had come into existence in the shadow of the United Nations as both were created in the fading years of the 1940s. Pakistan supported the universal values of tolerance and harmony, he added.
The president said that tolerance and harmony could not be fragmented and compartmentalised into Islam or Christianity. “Promotion of tolerance and harmony have to cross religious, geographical divides... exceptions and selectivity will shake faith in the universal norms of the UN Charter,” he added. app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk