April 07, 2021
KARACHI: PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari says a rise in extremist attitudes in the country, and especially in Sindh, will not be tolerated and no individual or group will be allowed to take the law into their own hands.
He was speaking to a delegation of Sindh intellectuals, human rights representatives, journalists, writers, social leaders and academics who called on him and briefed him on the growing extremism in Sindh.
Expressing concern over the intolerance and incitement being spread against writer and columnist Amar Jalil, the delegation drew attention to the reaction to an old allegorical fiction of the well-known writer and expressed concern over the threats to him and other issues being faced by progressive writers, poets and intellectuals in Sindh.
The delegation included Noorul Huda Shah, Jami Chandio, Amar Sindhu, Dr Ayub Sheikh, Dr Irfana Mallah, Rafiq Chandio, Nazir Leghari, Fazil Jamili, Dr Jaffar Ahmed, Anees Haroon, Ahmed Shah, Zakia Ijaz and Imdad Chandio.
The meeting was also attended by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and Culture Minister Sardar Shah.
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PPP Vice President Senator Sherry Rehman, Central Secretary Information and MNA Shazia Marri and Political Secretary to PPP Chairperson Jamil Soomro were also present.
The delegation requested the PPP chairperson that the cyber crime cell under the federal government be contacted to contain and curb extremist statements on social media. They asked the PPP to play its "positive role" in this regard.
Bilawal said that the process of dialogue with the administrative bodies of different sects will be promoted and the Ministry of Religious Affairs in Sindh will play an active role in "promoting the process of healthy dialogue between the Ulema and other intellectuals".
He said that Sindh is a land of religious tolerance and Sufi traditions as the message of peace from Sindh spreads all over the world.
The real identity of Sindh, he said, is the tolerance of society and hence, it should be maintained under all circumstances.