UNITED NATIONS – Pakistan has called for stepped up efforts to addressterrorism’s root causes and to counter the unjust defamation of certainreligions and communities that fosters misconceptions between the Muslimworld and the West.
“The international community must address the root causes of terrorismincluding protracted unresolved conflicts, unlawful use of force,aggression, foreign occupation, denial of the right to self-determinationand political and economic injustices, as well as political marginalisationand alienation,” Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi told the General Assembly’s SixthCommittee, which deals with legal matters.
Speaking in a debate on terrorism, she reiterated Pakistan’s condemnationof the deadly menace in all its forms and manifestations.
Noting some progress on the UN’s Global Counter Terrorism Strategy, thePakistani envoy underscored the need for sharpening its focus on counteringthe unjust defamation of certain religions and communities in the contextof the fight against terrorism.
“The unfair and biased portrayal of Islam and Islamic beliefs isunacceptable and must not be allowed to continue,” Ambassador Maleeha Lodhisaid.
Acts of incitement and hate-speech against Muslims, she said, not onlyexacerbated the gulf in attitudes but also fostered misperceptions betweenthe Muslim world and the West and these challenges must be addressedthrough political, normative and legal measures as also dialogue anddiplomacy.
«The hard-earned stability that Pakistan enjoys today has beenaccomplished by a comprehensive approach to counter terrorism,” MaleehaLodhi said.
No terrorist movement, she said, could be defeated by military meansalone. On its part, Pakistan was following a «whole of Society approach»,engaging community leaders, developing strong counter-narratives, enhancedregional cooperation and following international obligations, she said.
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Pakistan, she said, backed the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)position on a consensus-based Comprehensive Convention on InternationalTerrorism (CCIT).
The proposed Convention must be consistent with International HumanitarianLaw and clearly differentiate between acts of terrorism and the legitimatestruggles for self-determination of people living under foreign occupation,she stated.
“The malicious attempts by those who seek to manipulate the internationalconsensus against terrorism to justify the suppression of people strugglingfor their right to self-determination must never be permitted to succeed,”Maleeha Lodhi told delegates from around the world.
“Without a holistic approach, we will be fighting only the symptoms and notthe underlying causes of this deadly phenomenon.”
Stating that the capacity-building structure of the United Nations is adonor-driven process that is not catering to the needs of Member States,the Pakistani envoy underscored the need to develop a steady financingmechanism for the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre.
Pakistan, she said, was committed to cooperating with the internationalcommunity to work jointly to counter terrorism.
