According to a press release from the Pakistan Embassy in Jakarta on Tuesday, the Ambassador said Indonesia and Pakistan`s relations were rock solid but at the same time efforts need to be made to improve them.
He remarked that over the last four decades, after the 1960s peak era of relations, there had been a number of exchanges at both official and public levels and it was this spirit that had kept the friendship alive and growing.
At the public lecture at Hamka University, the ambassador also noted Indonesia and Pakistan`s implementation of democracy as countries with a large number of Muslims; saying that as long as democracy did not offend the tenets of Islam in any way, it should be acceptable to Muslims. Islam was not averse to change and fresh ideas, rather it encouraged them, he added.
Replying to a question from one of the students about the concept of Jihad in Islam, the Ambassador said Jihad did not mean every individual was entitled to take up arms, kill people and settle personal scores in the name of religion.
"It also does not mean that everyone is free to impose his/her interpretation of religion on others. The best way to wage Jihad is to gain the knowledge and economic self-sufficiency to have a say in world affairs," he said.
On the issue of extremism and terrorism being associated with Muslims, the Ambassador said the tendency to label Muslims as terrorists reflected the biased attitude of the western media.
He said the only way to eradicate the problem of extremism faced both by Indonesia and Pakistan, and for that matter, the whole world, was to ensure the economic well-being of the people and provide a good quality of life.
The Ambassador also suggested rehabilitation for the youth who were misguided by extremist elements. Only a change in the mindset would help achieve the desired results, he added.
(A051/KR-BSR)
Editor: Ade P Marboen
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
