Islam a peaceful religion: Ambassador Stefano Pontecorvo

Karachi: Italy’s ambassador to Pakistan Stefano Pontecorvo has said that Islam is a peaceful religion.

Speaking during the launch of ‘Tolerant Pakistan’ campaign in Karachi, the ambassador said the rise of Islamophobia was indeed a phenomenon.

“But this is part of the general rise of intolerance in Europe. The Islamic world also needed to play its role in this regard,” said the envoy.

Former foreign secretary Najmuddin Sheikh, All Pakistan Newspaper Society (APNS) Secretary General Syed Sarmad Ali and journalist Najia Ashar attended the event.

Ambassador Pontecorvo said: “Europe owes a lot to Islam and Arab culture.” He also shed light on the issue of increase in the number of illegal immigrants in Europe that was also causing intolerance.

The envoy identified a major problem regarding the elimination of intolerance, which was that in every tolerant society, individuals retained the right to be intolerant as long as they followed the law.

He called for the Pakistani authorities to promote sports in the country as a large number of people here were under 35 and sports helped youth stay away from negative attitude.