KARACHI, April 20: Speakers at a seminar on Wednesday stressed the need for closer interaction between academic circles of Muslim countries and the West in order to remove misperceptions regarding Islam. They said it was extremely unfair and unjust to accuse the Muslims of being involved in terrorism across the world. They further held that a few groups were using the name of Islam for their political motives.

The seminar on ‘Western perceptions of Islam and global terrorism’ was organized by the Department of Political Science, University of Karachi at the Arts Auditorium in collaboration with the Islamic Educational and Cultural Research Centre, USA.

The Vice-Chancellor, University of Karachi, Prof Dr Pirzada Qasim, presided over the seminar while Prof Dr Manzoor Uddin Ahmed, former VC of KU was the chief guest.

The speakers included Prof N Basic from the University of BIHAC, Prof Woldesemayat Habte from the University of Michigan, USA, Prof Dr Tanvir Khalid and Prof Dr M Ahmed Qadri. Prof Qadri has completed his postdoctoral research on ‘Western perception of Islam and global terrorism’ from the USA.

The KU VC, Dr Pirzada Qasim, said it must be communicated to people around the globe, particularly the academic circles of the West, that there was a need to create awareness about Islam among the people, and this could be done efficiently by the academics, he added.

He said it was imperative to tell people that whatever was being done in the name of Islam was not necessarily approved by the Quranic teachings.

Former KU VC Dr Manzooruddin Ahmed said it was essential to look for ways and means to eliminate terrorism without violence. “Terrorism can’t be dealt with violently; you must choose some other options.”

He said Islam did not permit terrorism in any form, which was called ‘Fasad Fil Arz’ (violence on the face of the earth) by the Quran.

Prof N Basic said efforts should be made for converting the violent groups into political entities.

He said mostly terrorism was spared while using the name of marginalized groups in order to gain economic resources. “The concept of aggression for the sake of territories has ended and now terrorism is used for economic objectives.”

The Chairperson of the Development of Political Science, Prof Tanvir Khalid, in her welcome address said terrorism had become a subject of debates worldwide, as governments were striving hard to ensure security of their citizens.

She said instead of counter terrorism such moves should be opposed, which might prove to be counter-productive. She further said that freedom movements must not be viewed as terrorism.

Dr Ahmed Qadri said Islam meant love and peace, and it preached tolerance. “It is impossible to derive any other meanings of Islamic teachings,” he said, adding that Islam did not allow war of aggression against any nation.

“How can a Muslim kill human beings in the name of Islam when Islam prohibits the killing of innocent people in the strictest sense,” he added.—APP