AJK President, Ulema vow to highlight importance of coronavirus vaccine

MUZAFFARABAD, June 2: The Federal Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony on Wednesday convened a conference at the Aiwan-e- Sadr, Islamabad, which was attended by governors of different provinces, AJK President, and the leading Ulema and Mushaikhs from all four provinces, AJK and Gilgit Baltistan to seek their cooperation for creating awareness among the masses about the COVID-19 vaccination program.

President, Dr. Arif Alvi chaired the conference while Ulema and Mushaikhah from Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, and AJK participated via video link.

AJK President, Sardar Masood Khan, and the Ulema attended the conference from Aiwan-e- Sadr Muzaffarabad.

Before the conference, President Sardar Masood Khan in a message said that the process of vaccination against coronavirus in AJK is being completed expeditiously and so far more than two lakh citizens have been vaccinated, which is eight percent of the population.

He said that the coronavirus positivity rate in Azad Kashmir has dropped from the highest peak of 20 percent to 6.52 percent and the time is not far when we will get rid of this pandemic completely.

He said that the exemplary unity and solidarity showed by the ulema and religious scholars in AJK, who put aside their petty differences and shouldered the state, was a shining example of national unity and solidarity.

Representing the Ulema and Mashaikhs of AJK, Secretary Religious Affairs Dr. Idrees Abbasi, prominent religious scholar and Member Islamic Ideology Council, Mufti Kifayat Hussain Naqvi, and Maulana Altaf Hussain Saifi said that by the grace of Almighty Allah, the coronavirus pandemic in Pakistan and AJK is declining.

They assured the government of Pakistan and the federal ministry of health that likes the past when all religious institutions including Mosques and Madrassas had taken precautionary measures against coronavirus and cooperated with the state government during the lockdown, they will demonstrate the same spirit for convincing the people to get themselves vaccinated for the complete eradication of the coronavirus pandemic.

The AJK scholars suggested that country’s leading scholars and spiritual figures with authentic religious credentials should get themselves vaccinated and their willingness for vaccination be widely publicized in order to encourage their followers to follow them.
They expressed their confidence that AJK with the highest literacy rate will maintain its traditions to be in the forefront in the vaccination process as well.

Addressing the conference, Mufti Kifayat Hussain Naqvi lauded the untiring efforts of President Dr. Arif Alvi and said that he had convened the first conference of ulema on March 26, 2020, and since then he is constantly striving to create national unity and solidarity and to gain the support of the ulema for which he deserves our tributes and appreciation.