SIALKOT (Dunya News) – Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Sunday highlighted the plight of Muslims in the world, especially in Gaza and Kashmir, and urged the ummah to unite to end oppression.
Speaking to the media here, the minister said a campaign has been underway against the Muslim world; “if we do not unite, everyone will face the same hardships endured by the Muslims of Palestine, Gaza and Kashmir.”
Khawaja Asif urged the nation to keep the message of Allama Iqbal alive; all Pakistanis must embody Iqbal’s poetry.
“Allama Iqbal and Quaid-e-Azam are benefactors of the nation — living nations always remember their benefactors, and those that forget them lose their way,” he added.
He said that today in Sialkot we are celebrating Allama Iqbal’s birth anniversary in his own birthplace. “My elders also lived in Iqbal’s neighbourhood in Sialkot. Iqbal’s poetry in Urdu and Persian will always remain alive.”
The minister regretted that “we have forgotten the message of the Poet of the East. Allama Iqbal dreamed of a separate homeland for the Muslims of the subcontinent; the poetry and philosophy of the Poet of the East were known in the world before and remain so now.”
Khawaja Asif said the Ummah is currently straying; Muslims from Gaza to Kashmir have been facing oppression.
“May Allah give us the courage to stand for the oppressed Muslims of Gaza, Palestine and Kashmir. We must raise our voices for the causes of Gaza, Palestine and Kashmir,” the defence minister concluded.