Forced change of religion a crime: PM

Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Tuesday said his government stood for the complete religious freedom of all communities and without discrimination, ensured them equal rights as enshrined in the Constitution. Addressing a ceremony held here to mark the Hindu festival of Holi, the prime minister said Islam treated all communities as equal, guaranteeing their rights by even enforcement of law. He said the government would ensure complete freedom for all the religious minorities and if required further legislation would be enacted with stringent enforcement of laws for their rights and protection. He said Pakistan was created on the basis of equal rights to all communities with complete religious freedom. Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Iqbal had called for complete religious freedom for followers of different faiths, he added. The prime minister vowed that attempts to create provincial prejudices or bias would not be given room and hinder the path of religious tolerance and unity. He noted that diversity of religions and faiths was the vital ingredient for unity and all the communities would have to transform this element to further foster the bonds of brotherhood and affection. He regretted that in the past, some elements wanted to weaken Pakistan by misusing religious differences or distorting the history, but the nation had rejected such attempts. “As a nation, we share the common woes and joys. We are one,” he declared. Extending greetings to the Hindu community on their religious festival, the prime minister said his government was committed to ensure equal opportunities for all the communities so that they could excel in different fields of life as such steps would help usher in collective prosperity. “Our task is to transform this world into heaven,” he stressed. He elaborated that Islam is a religion which has attached the highest priority to the sanctity of life and property of all and declares equal punishment for violators. He said the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) had preached complete protection of religious worship places. To force someone to abandon his faith was a crime and such spirit was manifested in the Constitution, which was framed after a complete consensus of all the political parties and religious leaders, he added. The prime minister said all the faiths shared similar teachings. Allama Iqbal, he said, had declared religious intolerance as indication of the petty thinking and conceived Pakistan to be a place of religious freedom and harmony. On the occasion, Sindh Governor Muhammad Zubair, federal ministers Khawaja Saad Rafique, Ahsan Iqbal and Kamran Michael, members of parliament, provincial assembly, provincial PML-N leadership and a large number of Hindu community members were present. The prime minister said those elements, who tried to create fissures in a society on the basis of religion, had no place among the people. He stressed that the people should stand for truth and reality as these were the qualities which guaranteed complete peace and harmony in a society. He expressed pleasure over attending the event, saying today, all the communities across the length and breadth of the country were closely attached to bonds of interfaith harmony. Source: Geo News