ISLAMABAD: Minister of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, Pir Noor ul Haq Qadri said Islamophobia had a long history right after the advent of Islam, and the world today witnessed its lethal form in India. Its origin had nothing to do with the 9/11 incident or other theories being discussed at various social, political, and religious fora across the world, he added. Addressing a conference on ‘Islamophobia and Its Possible Solutions’ here at the International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) on Monday evening, the minister said soon after the announcement of his Prophethood by Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), the non-Muslims started hatching conspiracies against him and Islam. Qadri said with the passage of time Islamophobia had kept on changing its shapes. The objective from the very first day was to deprive humanity of the true teachings of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) and Islam. He elaborated as to why Islamophobia was a favorite subject in Pakistan and Turkey. There were only two leaders on the planet Earth, one was Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan and the other was President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, who were boldly raising their voices against it. Both the Pakistani and Turkish communities, he added, were considered the real practicing Muslims, and that was why there was a huge responsibility on the shoulders of their ambassadors, politicians, opinion-makers, and academia to deal with the menace of Islamophobia with a pragmatic approach. Qadri said in their animosity towards the Muslims, the anti-Islam elements had targeted three sacred things in Islam – the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him), the Holy Quran, and Khana-e-Ka’aba. He said today Islamophobia could be seen in its worst form in India. The case of Muskan Khan, a Hijab protestor, was just the tip of the iceberg, as hundreds of thousands of women were being treated inhumanly across India on daily basis. He regretted the silence of the “so-called” human rights organizations and women activists who were not taking a stand for so many Muskans, who were being ill-treated by Hindu zealots in India. The Indian Muslims, he said, were being told that they had no right to live in India as it was Hindus’ land. They were being forced to leave the country. The Narendra Modi-led Indian government was promoting the extremist ‘Hindutva’ ideology, he added. The minister said he was thankful to the Kuwaiti leadership, parliament, and society for raising their voice against Indian atrocities, which should be followed suit by the rest of the Muslim world. Qadri said the Pakistani nation would have to cope with the issue of Islamophobia courageously and diplomatically instead of damaging its own belongings or country. Meanwhile, Turkish Religious Affairs Minister Dr. Ali Arbash said the world powers’ social engineering had brought this planet to the brink of destruction. This social engineering mostly affected the Muslim world and forced the Muslim Ummah to live below the poverty line through wars, occupations, and violence, he added. He said the world powers with strategic planning manipulated the Islamic world by cultural and economic distortions. He said the recent efforts to malign Islam – a religion of peace – had drawn the attention towards the word Islamophobia. He said Islamophobia, a conspiracy hatched against Islam, was a sensitive issue of human rights carrying hidden agendas of self-interests of enemies. According to a pre-planned strategy, Islam was being projected as a religion of extremists on the globe, he added. He said, “There are certain media houses in European countries which were trying to interlink terrorism with Islam in order to hide its enlightened aspects from the world.” He said Islamophobia was not limited to the European countries, but now whatsoever was happening in India and Myanmar, it was also a part of it. Due to this reason, the cases of torturing Muslims, destroying their houses, businesses, and worship places, and sexually assaulting Muslim women were being increased, he added. He said Islamophobia was in fact anti-Islamism. He urged the Ulema to devise a ‘counter strategy’ to foil the nefarious designs of anti-Islam elements. He said the European people hailing from all walks of life should speak up against this misconduct with Muslims and Islam. He also stressed the need to launch a worldwide drive to counter the negative propaganda being associated with Islam. On this occasion, IIUI Rector Prof Dr. Masoom Yasinzai gave the welcome note. Vice President Administration and Finance Dr. Nabi Bux Jumani briefed about the IIUI. Dean Faculty of Social Sciences Dr. Zafar Iqbal gave an exclusive presentation on Islamophobia. Later on, the books and souvenirs were exchanged with national and foreign dignitaries.