MUMBAI: A year after he led a long march from Lahore to Islamabad against corruption in Pakistan, Islamic scholar Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri will lead an interfaith prayer meet in the city for peace, harmony and solidarity in South Asia.
Being jointly organized by Observer Research Foundation (ORF) Mumbai and Minhaj-ul-Quran International (India), the interfaith dialogue at Y B Chavan Centre on January 9 and a prayer meeting the same evening at Somaiya College Ground in Sion will see Qadri reiterate his resolve to fight the menace of terrorism ideologically and give a call for making South Asia strife-free.
“Dr Qadri’s participation in the meet is part of the initiative ‘People’s SAARC’ we have established to make South Asia peaceful. Peace in the region cannot be achieved without active guidance of faith leaders and Dr Qadri is among leading faith leaders of the region who have impacted millions of people,” said ORF (Mumbai)’s chairman Sudheendra Kulkarni. Spiritual leaders of Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Christianity and Sikhism will also participate in the roundtable discussion and the prayer meet.
Qadri whose book Fatwa on Terrorism and Suicide Bombings is being held as the definitive denunciation of jihadist terrorism will also address a gathering on January 11 at the Somaiya Ground. Dr Qadri, through references from the Quran and the Prophet’s traditions, has proved that those who kill innocent in the name of Islam are worst enemies of their faith and humanity. His bold condemnation of terrorism has earned him the ire of extremist elements in Pakistan where he studied and taught law before moving to Canada a couple of years ago.
“Every year on the Prophet’s birthday he addresses the Muslims from Lahore. This year he will deliver this talk on January 14 in Bangalore and the speech will be televized live to millions of homes across the world,” said Minhaj-ul-Uloom International (India)’s president Rafeeq Ahmed Khan.
