*NEW YORK – Pakistan’s Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi told the United Nations(UN) about Prime Minister Imran Khan’s plan for an international campaignagainst defamation of religions.*
Speaking at the Eighth Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance ofCivilization, Pakistan’s permanent representative at the UN said, his primeminister had made a major announcement to counter Islamophobia andincitement to hatred being witnessed in some parts of the world.
“Hate narratives are spreading in several parts of the world; islamophobiais on the rise and diversity is being seen not as a source of enrichmentbut as a threat; and politics of fear seem to be replacing politics ofhope”, she asserted.
She also stressed the importance of countering Islamophobia and theincitement to violence and hatred that is being witnessed in some parts ofthe western world by the negative depiction of Muslims.
The government of Pakistan, she said, was committed to actively engage inefforts to promote tolerance and understanding and “believed in sincere andopen dialogue to promote international cooperation, global peace andsecurity”.
Reiterating Pakistan’s firm belief that universal values of peace,tolerance, egalitarianism and respect for common humanity, were shared byall religions and cultures, Pakistani envoy emphasized that “this commonheritage should enable the world to draw strength from its diversity ratherthan allowing it to be used as justification to accentuate differences”.