RAWALPINDI, Feb 25: President Pervez Musharraf has said that it is the collective responsibility of the international community to promote inter-faith harmony and discourage any act that poses a threat to world peace and stability.

The president was speaking to an eight-member delegation of eminent Islamic scholars who called on him at the Army House here on Saturday.

“Pakistan has strongly condemned the appearance of sacrilegious sketches and taken up the issue internationally and is working in coordination with the UN and the OIC to prevent recurrence of such acts of blasphemy,” he told the scholars.

As a pivotal member of the Muslim world, Pakistan will effectively project the sentiments of Muslims, he said, while noting that the publications had hurt the feelings of the Ummah and one of its most revered figures.

He said the government and the people of Pakistan had a clear-cut stand on the issue and “we believe that such publications under the pretext of freedom of the press cannot be justified”.

Referring to his vision of enlightened moderation, the president said Pakistan had been striving to promote inter-faith harmony in the interest of sustainable peace and development of the world.

However, the president noted that such blasphemous publications encourage the propagators of insidious notions concerning the clash of civilisations.

“Therefore, it is the collective responsibility of the entire world leadership to help foster understanding and bridge the gap created in the wake of sacrilegious sketches,” he said. In the first week of March, the president said, he would discuss the issue with President George W. Bush during the US leader’s visit to Islamabad.

“The Muslims hold prophets of God in the highest esteem and believe that blasphemy against any of the prophets is reprehensible,” he said.

The ulema appreciated President Musharraf’s forceful projection of the issue internationally and put forward their suggestions vis-à-vis Pakistan’s response.

Minister for Religious Affairs Ejazul Haq described the meeting as “quite useful” and said the scholars appreciated President Musharraf’s efforts in representing the sentiments of the Muslims on the issue of blasphemous sketches.

He said the ulema condemned the violence that occurred during protest demonstrations in Peshawar and Lahore and called for unity instead of scoring political points on the issue.

President Musharraf pledged that the government would not stop peaceful demonstrations against the publication of sacrilegious caricatures in Europe but warned that it would not allow anyone to gain political mileage and cause infrastructural damage.

The president urged the provincial governments to ensure that anti-blasphemy rallies were held in designated places only and the life and property of people were safeguarded.

The president said that certain elements wanted to achieve political mileage out of this issue which was a regrettable act.

BLASPHEMY OFFENCE: President Musharraf said the government would take up the issue of blasphemy at the United Nations and Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) and ask both these forums to view it as a cognisable criminal offence.

Special instructions have been issued to the country’s permanent representative to the UN Munir Akram to present this issue in an effective way at the UN forum.

The president said that the elements responsible for creating this situation should be brought to book and the UN and OIC should draw up appropriate legislation to engender respect for all religions and prophets.

The religious scholars assured the president that they were not in favour of violent protests and rallies and pledged that they would not participate in such rallies.

They told him they just wanted protection of finality of prophethood and urged the government to take up this issue amicably at the international forum and call for legislation against the recurrence of such acts.

President Musharraf said the government backed the registration of Madaris and viewed it as an encouraging sign that several religious schools had registered themselves.

MUSLIM UNITY: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that Muslims belonging to all schools of thought should show greater unity in their ranks to frustrate the evil designs of anti-Muslim elements.

Talking to a delegation of Shia ulema here at Prime Minister’s House, Mr Aziz said that ulema should join hands throughout the world in an effort to counter the nefarious designs of elements working to create disturbances in the ranks of Muslims.

Mr Aziz said the publication of blasphemous caricatures had hurt the feelings of Muslims across the world. He said the whole nation was protesting against this act of disrespect to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

He also condemned the tragic incidents in the holy shrines of Iraq and said Pakistan had strongly condemned these incidents.—Agencies