Islamabad: (Parliament Times) Terming Kashmir as the land of sages and saints the President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir has said that Sufi-saints who chose the precincts of Himalayan region as their abode had always taught the lesson of tolerance, interfaith harmony and peaceful coexistence amongst the various cultures and religions.
The AJK president made these remarks while addressing a Seminar held under the aegis of Muslim Institute here on Wednesday. The Seminar besides others was also addressed by Professor Marsiya K Harmsan. Khan observed that Kashmir once an abode of tolerance and interfaith harmony has now been turned into a slaughter house [killing field] by Indian occupation forces, where innocent and defenseless people of Kashmir were being killed without any rhyme and reason. He said that followers of Sufism in the West should come forward in a big way to play their much needed role to stop systematic genocide of the disciples of Noor-ud-Deen Wali and Shah-e-Hamadan in occupied Kashmir.
Referring to the role of Sufi-Saints in Asia he said that Sufis through their teachings have relieved the sufferings of downtrodden, destitute and deprived lot of the society besides teaching peace and religious harmony. Rejecting the western notion that only believers of Sufism are good and rest of all Muslims are evil, he said that the prevailing concept in the western society was unfounded and baseless as Islam as a religion teaches tolerance, interfaith harmony and mutual coexistence. He said that Islam as a religion not only talks about human and human rights but also emphasizes on taking good care of animals and plants as well.
He said that terrorists and criminals under the garb of Islam have been committing crimes. “They are not actually Muslimsâ€, he said adding that Jamal Afghani and Sir Syed Ahmed Khan were not Sufis in fact but they played significant role to forge peace and interfaith harmony in the region.
He said that mountains and high-altitude peaks in Azad Kashmir have been named after Sufi Saints and right from Neelum to Mirpur there are Sufi Shrines spread all over the region. He regretted that under a well thought out plan hatred was being spread against Muslims all over the world.
