ISLAMABAD: Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Minister Pir Noorul Haq Qadri Thursday urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to mark the ‘International Hijab Day’ on March 8, to express solidarity with the Muslim women facing issues of religious independence and basic human rights across the world.

The minister, in a letter to the prime minister, said marking the Hijab Day would help draw the attention of the international community, including the United Nations (UN), towards physical and psychological maltreatment of women, especially girl students in India and the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir at the hands of Hindu extremists having the full backing of the Modi government.

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He said Pakistan should ask the UN to play its due role in stopping the ongoing inhuman acts in India keeping in view the Muslims religious independence. Qadri said to make the Hijab Day a successful event, programmes should be organized at federal and provincial levels, and the human rights and information ministries are directed to prepare a consolidated strategy on the matter. He also pointed out that some so-called human rights activists and organizations took out rallies under the banner of ‘Aurat March’ to highlight the issues being faced by women globally.

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But they totally disregarded the problems being faced by Muslims, as their banners, placards and slogans mismatched with the local social, political and religious norms, he lamented. Instead of raising the genuine issues, he said, they rather resorted to maligning Islam’s golden principles of life, especially for the women.

He made it clear that Islam was a complete code of life and women’s rights were highly protected in Islamic societies. Qadri urged the government not to give any individual or civil society free hand to ridicule the divine injunctions, particularly regarding Hijab in the wake of ‘Aurat March’.