PM urges Ulema to stand up to extremism

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf Wednesday urged the Ulema to stand up to the challenge of extremism and terrorism and expose those who were trying to create chaos inthe name of Islam.

Addressing a convention of Ulema here at the PM Secretariat, the prime minister said it was the responsibility of the entire nation to stand up along with the religious scholars and project the real message of Islam that preached love and tolerance.

"We will not let the real face of Pakistan get distorted at any cost," the prime minister said.

He said it was time to dispel the negative impression about Pakistan and Islam and added that the Ulema had a key role to play in this regard, as they can help dispel such perceptions.

He asked the Ulema to rise above sectarian differences and project the real teachings of Islam that have been distorted by acts of violence.

"Pakistan today needs your services, If we do not stop it now,things can get bad,"
the prime minister warned.

The prime minister said they also need to guide the people ofPakistan as to the teachings of Islam, as it was opposite to what they witness every day in the form of bomb blasts and deaths ofinnocent people.

"The government and the peaceful people of Pakistan stand withtheir Ulema in this noble task," the prime minister said.

Referring to the recent spate of acts of violence across thecountry in which several lives were lost, he said Pakistan was earning the ire of the world and was being projected as a country that breeds violence and exports terrorism, something that wastotally wrong.