LARKANA: Muslim and Hindu speakers at a programme held at the Larkana Dharamshala on Sunday evening to mark the International Day of Tolerance called for a joint struggle for religious tolerance, peace, justice and respect to maintain communal harmony in Sindh, the land of Sufis who always preached peace, love and brotherhood in society without any discrimination.

The programme was organised by the Civil Society Support Programme (CSSP) in collaboration with the Right of Expression, Assembly, Association and Thought Network (REAATN). The speakers included LarkanaHindu Panchayat Committee chairperson Advocate Kalpana Devi, Larkana Chamber of Commerce and Industry presidentKhairMohammad Shaikh, Additional Deputy Commissioner Saifullah Abro, Prof Mukhtiar Sammo, Dr Dharmpal, Dr Pirh Sakina Gad, Maulvi Manzoor and Afzal Shaikh.

Advocate Devi condemned the rising trend of attacks on religious places and members of the minority communities and attributed religious extremism and fanaticism to a lack of tolerance and awareness in society. She called for an effective campaign to educate people in order to enable them to understand the extremists` propaganda against religious minorities.`Sindh is the land of great Sufis like Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, Sachal Sarmast, Shaheed Inayat and Bhagat Kanwer Ram who preached love, tolerance, peace and harmony, she said, adding that fanatics and extremists were bent upon imposing their agenda by misusing religion. Their acts of terrorism were creating a gulf between the Muslim and other communities living in peace across the country, she said.

However, she said, their nefarious designs could not succeed as Muslims and Hindus had been getting together on various occasions like today`s programme.

Prof Mukhtiar Sammo was of the view that the level of religious tolerancein society was on the decline due to a variety of reasons including injustice, poverty, widening gap between the rich and the poor and absence of equal opportunities for all and sundry. He stressed the need for changing the curriculum to introduce subjects like tolerance, peace, mutual respect and harmony.

Saifullah Abro observed that the country had been witnessing an unprecedented rise in religious intolerance over the past few years. He called for effective measures to check the trend in order to restore peace and communal harmony.

The programme also featured a theatre and a musical show. Mashooq Wadho sang the verses of Sachal Sarmast at the show.