Federal cabinet at its meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday directed to hold a national level Interfaith Harmony Conference next week. The meeting was chaired by caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar. The cabinet directed to invite scholars of international stature from different religions and schools of thought. It was noted the conference will prove to be a milestone for the promotion of interfaith harmony in the country. Apprising the cabinet about his Jaranwala visit, the Prime Minister termed the protection of minorities as the topmost priority. He categorically stated that fanning the religious hatred and extremism will not be allowed at any cost in the country. Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar assured to award exemplary punishment to those involved in Jaranwala incident. The caretaker Prime Minister said the prime mandate of caretaker government is to assist and monitor the electoral process as per the constitutional requirement.

 He said the caretaker set up is for a limited period and it cannot design the government's model or structure.  He said as continuation of the previous government, we are supposed to carry on with the general policy and works. He said we have to perform day-to-day monitoring of activities to the best of our abilities. The Caretaker Prime Minister expressed the hope the cabinet members would have taken or would be in the process of taking briefings from their relevant departments. He asked the cabinet members to come up with their work plans, assuring that the weekly cabinet agendas would be pursued keeping them in view. On the recommendation of the Finance Ministry, the federal cabinet fixed the diyat amount which is equivalent to 30630 gram silver at about 6.705 million rupees for the current fiscal year.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)