Action must be taken against anti-peace elements inciting hatred and creating rifts among citizens

Faisalabad, December 31, 2012 (PPI-OT): The government must take exemplary steps to promote diversity and build culture of tolerance, harmony and dialogue among different communities, and prevent violent conflicts on the grounds of ethnicity, sect and religion. The legislation against domestic violence and custodian torture must be passed and enforced to ban such heinous crimes. This was demanded by the speakers including; Dr. Najma Afzal, Nazia Sardar (Director-AWAM), Suneel Malik (Director-PHD Foundation), Naseem Anthony (Executive Secretary-AWAM), Shazia George (Coordinator-AWAM), Yousaf Adnan (President-CARE Foundation), Irshad Parkash (President-ASB), Nasreen Bukhari (President-Aitbar Foundation), Naseem Akhtar (Chairperson-POWER), Dr. Pervez Ghouri, Farrukh Awan and Afsheen Patras during a peace rally entitled ‘Respect for Diversity and Rights of Others to Live in Peace’ to mark world day of peace. The rally was staged by the Peace and Human Development (PHD Foundation) and the Association of Women for Awareness and Motivation (AWAM) in collaboration with Idara Samajhi Behbood (ASB), CARE Foundation, POWER Organization and Aitbaar Foundation.
The speakers urged political parties to get the candidates of women and religious minorities directly elected on general seats rather than reserved seats by awarding them party tickets for general elections in 2013.

They demanded that the representation of the women must be increased from seventeen percent (17%) to thirty-three percent (33%) in the national as well as provincial assemblies. They emphasized that the lives and properties of the citizens and religious sites of all communities including shrines, churches and mosques must be protected, whereas educational curriculum must be purged from biased material in order to make it a source of peace promotion, whereas material promoting human rights, peace, harmony and religious, sectarian & ethnic tolerance must be included in the syllabus.

The participants marching from District Council to Circular Road, were holding peace symbols, banners and placards inscribed with slogans in favour of peace, tolerance, harmony, justice and human rights. They chanted slogans against discrimination, extremism, intolerance and terrorism in the Pakistani society, and demanded end of violence against journalists, human rights defenders, women, labourers, religious, sectarian and ethnic minorities.

The rally was joined by people from different walks of life including students, lawyers, representatives of trade unions, political parties and civil society organizations namely; HRFP, IWFP, HOCCS, RDO, Maimar, HEDO, NCJP, NSF, St. Egidio Community and Awami Workers Party. At this juncture, Muhammad Mohsin, Farooq Ayub, Arif Ayaz, Shafiq Sharif, Zafar Iqbal, Nasir Mehmood, Zuhaib Newton and Mian Naveed were also present.

For more information, contact:
Naseem Anthony
Executive Secretary
Association of Women for Awareness and Motivation (AWAM)
Street No.9, Block ‘D’, Barkatpura, G.P.O 665, Railway Road,
Faisalabad-38000 Pakistan
Tel: +92-41-2004270
Fax: +92-41-8721370
Email: contact@awampk.org