Malaysia urges all parties in conflict to discard extremism
KUALA LUMPUR : Malaysia has urged all parties in conflicts to discard extremism and move instead towards promoting a culture of peace to resolve differences.
Malaysia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) in New
York, Datuk Hussein Haniff said such a culture would bring together all
actors and could be undertaken by community and religious leaders,
parents, families, teachers, artists, academicians, civil societies,
journalists, students and people from all walks of life.
"Malaysia's call for a global movement of moderates is aimed at
promoting an everlasting global peace and harmony. We invite everyone
present here today, to join this movement, in their own way to promote
moderation, at the international, regional, national and local levels,"
he said in his statement at the Wesak Day Celebration at the UN in New
York, yesterday.
The statement was sent to Bernama through fax today.
About Wesak Day in Malaysia, Hussein said Malaysia joined fellow
Malaysians of the Buddhist faith in celebrating it every year in the
country with approximately 19.2 percent Buddhists.
"The holy day of Wesak is celebarated in Malaysia, and has been declared as a public holiday since 1962," he said.
He said this was a manifestation of Malaysia's long history of close
interaction between peoples of different faiths and culture and Malaysia
also took pride in its diversity, as it brought strength to the nation
as a whole in the spirit 1Malaysia.
"One of the key elements in nurturing national unity has been the
moderate approach, adopted by the Malaysian government and embraced by
its people in dealing with wide-ranging issues, including enhancing
interfaith and intercultural relations.
"Our success as a nation, till today, heavily relies on the willingness
of the moderates, from all religions and cultures, to work towards a
common goal in perpetuating peace, harmony and prosperity," he said.
Therefore, Hussein said Malaysia wished to take this opportunity to
extand its call for moderation to the international community, in
pursuit of global peace and harmony.
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