Shaykh-ul-Islam’s message on 'World Day of Peace' 2011

The world community is celebrating the International Day of Peace on September 21, 2011 today. The Day marks the humanity’s relentless struggle for the establishment of a peaceful, harmonious and just world order. The observance of this Day with traditional fervour across the continents, cultures and geographical boundaries reflects the shared stakes, opportunities and threats faced by the humanity without any discrimination of caste, creed, colour, race and religion. Hence the pursuit of peace becomes a shared goal warranting collective response and dedication. By holding seminars, workshops and other educative programs, the communities, on this day, highlight the importance of peace for socio-economic development and, by doing so, they also pay tribute to the individuals and organizations, which are working hard, day in and day out, to reduce differences and build bridges.

It was in 1981 that the UN General Assembly decided to celebrate the World Peace Day in a resolution sponsored by the United Kingdom devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace. The theme of 2011 namely “Peace and Democracy: Make your voice heard” also calls for concerted actions and employment of partnership approach to strengthen the ideals of peace and harmony in a world torn apart by wars, conflicts, wave of terrorism and extremism, bloodshed, civil strife, instability and chaos.

The right way to commemorate this auspicious day is to reflect on the challenges the world peace is faced with and come up with innovative and creative solutions to make this world a better place for our succeeding generations. The most immediate threats to global peace emanate from religious extremism, radicalism as well as from the menaces of poverty, denial of democratic and political rights and yawning gap between haves and have-nots. Developing a true understanding of nature and interplay of these threats constitutes the first necessary step towards eradicating them.