ISLAMABAD: President Asif Zardari has said some people are still using religion as a weapon just for their benefit and we are facing the consequences at the country’s borders.
“We are harvesting the crop of militancy, which was sown in the name of religion,” he said, while addressing the International Conference on Sufism and Peace arranged by the Pakistan Academy of Letters here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr. Religious scholars from different parts of the world took part in the conference.
“I am not afraid of death. I am waiting for my death and I have reached the Aiwan-e-Sadr by escaping death,” President Zardari said. “We are followers of Islam but today there is a dire need that we promote the agenda of Sufism,” he said, adding there was also need for religious harmony. He said Sufism had a crucial role to play in mankind’s struggle for a peaceful world.
He said his late spouse Benazir Bhutto was his teacher and she had complete belief in Sufism. Benazir Bhutto, the president said, had no fear of death and she knew that she would be killed by terrorists after returning to Pakistan.
“Dictators, bureaucrats and those people who have lust for power have always used religion as a weapon,” he said, adding not only Islam but also Christianity and Judaism were used for politics.
“Benazir Bhutto during her rule had informed Bush Senior about the world’s most wanted terrorist Osama Bin Laden. We have thrown out a dictator after coming to power but we could not get rid of terrorism and extremism,” Zardari said. He said extremism and militancy were a mindset created to defeat a rival ideology in the region and the extremists were encouraged to use religion as the foundation of their ideology.
“We can also cope with extremism and terrorism by promoting Sufism,” he said, adding his late wife always knew that the assassins’ bullet awaited her and said: “I am not scared of death, for death is what I await.” He said he, too, in his capacity was trying to play his role to help humanity.
“I am nothing more than a speck in the universe and am trying to do my bit of that speck as it was my defined role,” he said and added he would continue to contribute towards a better world. He urged the international community to work for the welfare of the people, adding: “We should not discriminate between man and woman.”
Source: http://thenews.jang.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=27802
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