Excellencies,
Distinguished Colleagues,

I thank Honorable Foreign Minister of brotherly Islamic Republic of Pakistan HE Zardari and President of the UN General Assembly HE Körösi for organizing this special event to commemorate the International Day to Combat Islamophobia.

This is indeed a timely discussion.

Islamophobia is a real and a rising threat.

In spite of Muslims’ immense contributions to the socio-economic life all over the world, they increasingly face systemic practices of denial of freedom of religion, hate crimes and various manifestations of Islamophobia.

It goes hand in hand with the rising tide of populism and polarization that tend to dominate political discourse in many countries.

We observe that many discriminatory approaches are increasingly
moving into the mainstream, with their inaccurate perceptions and representations about the Muslims.

Islamophobia has now become a major threat to democracy as it feeds racist and xenophobic tendencies.

As a result, desecration of holy Quran and Mosques, as well as violations of freedom of manifestation of religion are on the rise.

The despicable attacks recently perpetrated by anti-Islam instigators in Europe against the Holy Quran are blatant displays of hatred, intolerance, xenophobia and discrimination.

Allowing these abhorrent acts can never be justified under the pretext of freedom of expression.

On the contrary, these are flagrant violations and indeed abuses of democratic freedoms and basic rights.

Sacred values and symbols should be out of reach from charlatans, fanatics and opportunists.

Colleagues,

Islamophobia is a kind of racism and should be dealt with accordingly.

Our priority must be to marginalize Islamophobic discourse through unified and concerted action.

We should strive to increase accountability and minimize impunity regarding crimes against Muslims.

We should also firmly stand against efforts to associate Islam with violent extremism and terrorism.

There are several steps that we must collectively take to counter Islamophobia;

- Standing up together against Islamophobic discourse and actions,
- Calling out any injustice we witness;
- Defending democracy and human rights;
- Promoting Islamic civil values and combating radicalism,
- And, condemning intolerance, incitement, harassment based on ethnic origin or religious belief.

We can make a difference if we can achieve unity and solidarity in both word and deed

The UN General Assembly’s designation of March 15th as the “International Day to Combat Islamophobia” was a landmark step towards these objectives.

It reaffirmed international community’s plaedge to fight against all forms and manifestations of Islamophobia and today, we reaffirm our commitment and determination once again.

Thank you.