Conference hopes to address militancy threat through Wasatiyyah concept
KUALA LUMPUR: The Asean Wasatiyyah Conference (AWAC) is an important platform to find a united resolution using the concept of ‘Wasatiyyah’ in addressing the growing threat of militancy in the region, said Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.
He said the conference should also deliberate on countering the negative narrative towards issues related to religious extremism.
“The Wasatiyyah agenda enforces the practice of Islam as a religion of peace and impartiality, not extremism, prejudice and intolerance.
“Those who have their own interpretation of the religion for their own benefit have terrorised and manipulated the vulnerable, and have strayed from the true path,” he told reporters after opening AWAC 2016 at Wisma Perwira ATM, here, yesterday.
He also insisted that one could no longer stand idle but must distinguish oneself from those propagating a heinous understanding of Islam.
Hishammuddin also said that the three key society groups that could determine the success or failure of the Wasatiyyah initiative to counter the threat of extremism were educators, the media and civil society.
The two- day conference has drawn 275 participants, among them military officers, from Asean countries as well as public and enforcement agencies.
Also present at the opening ceremony were Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Johari Baharum and Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki. — Bernama