Islamabad,
Pakistan is hosting the two-day Council of foreign Ministers (CFM) meeting of the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) in Islamabad on March 22 and 23. The focus of the Ministerial Conference is ‘Partnering for Unity, Justice and Development’. The meeting will coincide with the Pakistan’s resolution 75th anniversary celebrations.
Foreign Ministers and high-level dignitaries from OIC Member and Observer States are attending the conference and will also witness the Pakistan Day Parade on March 23 as guests of honor.
State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China, is in Islamabad and will attend as a special guest.
Senior officials from non-OIC countries, representatives from the United Nations, regional and international organizations, including the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council will also participates the two day conference.
Prime Minister Imran Khan delivered a keynote address at the 48th CFM of the OIC in Islamabad and regretted that Muslims have failed the Kashmiris and Palestinians.
“We are 1.5 billion people and yet our voice to stop this blatant injustice is insignificant. We are simply talking about human rights”, PM Imran Khan said.
They were denied their right to a plebiscite even though international law was on their side and added that Kashmir’s special status was taken away by India illegally in Aug 2019.
Imran said he was not saying that Muslim countries alter their foreign policies but unless “we have a united front on core issues these abuses will keep on happening”.
India is changing the demography of Kashmir by bringing settlers from outside, this was a war crime but nobody censured India on it, P.M. added.
Social media exposed the crimes committed by Israelis in Palestine, “Like Palestine, where daylight robbery is happening,” he added.
The prime minister further said that the world was heading in the wrong direction, adding that there was a chance of the world being divided into blocks. “Unless we take a united stand, we would be going nowhere.”
Speaking about Afghanistan, Imran said it was extremely important to stabilize Afghanistan. He said due to sanctions and non-recognition, Afghanistan may fall into another humanitarian crisis and the only way to stop terrorism emanating from Afghan soil is to support a stable Afghan government.
Denying the existence of a “radical” version of Islam,
Imran said there was only one kind of Islam that was preached by Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
The premier said the narrative of ‘Islamic terrorism’ went on unchecked after the 9/11 attacks.
“We, the Muslim countries, did not do anything to stop this narrative,” he said, adding that the heads of Muslim states should have taken a stand on this issue but they “instead a lot of them kept saying things like we are moderate”.
This meant that they were acknowledging that there was a radical version of Islam.
“There is only one Islam that is of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH),” he said,
There were fanatics in every human community but only Islam was singled out by the use of such terms Khan added.
Islam was vilified yet there was no “coherent response” by the Muslim world. PM Imran said after the resolution on Islamophobia, he hoped that a narrative would be put forward that why blasphemy hurt Muslims so much.
According to the premier, the Objectives Resolutions by the “founding fathers” in 1951 envisaged Pakistan as an Islamic welfare state based on the model of Madina. He said he came in politics for the very same goal.
“In the history of mankind, there was never a more just and humane state than the state of Madina,” he said, adding that unfortunately, Muslims didn’t know about it.
PM Imran said Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) came to “unite mankind not divide mankind”. The charter of Madina was signed with Jews, Christians, and Pagans, he said, adding that everyone became part of the community. “It was a revolution of ideas; he created a new system,” Imran said referring to the holy prophet (PBUH).
Speaking about the rule of law, he said the poor countries have one thing in common, they cannot catch white-collar criminals. “The developing world is poor because they cannot put powerful criminals in jail.”
Citing a UN report, he said $1.6 trillion are siphoned off from poor countries by powerful criminals.
