People should be as particular about following the teachings of a religious scholar, as they are about choosing a competent doctor, Javed Ahmed Ghamdi told Daily Times Editor-in-Chief Najam Sethi during an interview on Sunday.
The religious scholar said there was a dire need to restructure society, as religious extremism and intolerance were posing a threat to its integrity. Democratic culture should be promoted to strengthen Pakistani society, he added. Meanwhile, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Chairwoman Asma Jahangir told Sethi that the Christian community in Gojra had revealed that masked men had come to Gojra from Jhang to torch the houses belonging to Christians. She said the victims of the violence had alleged the riots against the Christian community had been planned by extremist elements. She said the Musharraf government shared blame for the violence, saying it had only taken cosmetic measures to control religious extremism.
Also on Sunday, renowned journalist Mujibur Rehman Shami told Sethi by telephone that the blasphemy laws had been legislated to control public outcry over any incident of alleged blasphemy and to prosecute the accused in a court of law. It was unfortunate that people took the law into their own hands, he added. Senior journalist and analyst Khaled Ahmed said that extremism, religious intolerance and activities of non-state actors had weakened the state of Pakistan, and extremism could not be controlled as long as the state was weak.
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