OIC should persuade Mahathir
R D Qureshi, Uttara, Dhaka
Dr Mahathir Muhammad, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, having shown great statesmanship and earning global admiration, has declared his intention to retire from the post he is holding for the last 22 years and has already been accorded a warm farewell by the Heads of States and Governments of ASEAN countries recently at Bali, Indonesia.He may be off-loading the burden of running his country after long years of strain and stress and to let a new leader to come up and take over. But his interest in the well-being of Muslims across the world, which is widely known, will surely stay with him. In the present day world, the Muslims are in a miserable condition, particularly after the incidents that happened on September 11, 2001. There are threats from the superpowers in the name of anti-terrorism, renewed threats from the aggressive Christian evangelists entering war-torn countries, threats from within caused by fanatics angered by western attitude towards Muslims as well as by the failure of their own leaders to stop un-Islamic and even anti-Islamic activities in their own countries. Muslims have an institution called Organisation of Islamic Countries but it has failed to stand up to expectations. It's activities are limited to formal, almost useless, meetings and there is no proof of the Organisation having played any constructive role. The reason behind the failure of OIC may be the lack of proper leadership and well defined goals. In an international organisation like it, the Secretary General plays the pivotal role. But OIC did not perhaps ever had a person having international standing to lead it. Now is an opportunity for the OIC to have a great Secretary General if Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Muhammad can be persuaded by the Heads of State and Government of Muslim countries to take up this position for the sake of Islam and Muslims. A Secretary General of Dr Mahathir Muhammad's stature, with a permanent Secretariat having appropriate wings, adequately staffed with carefully selected personnel, to handle (1) Common policies to deal with threats from outside; (2) Propagation of Islam and defence against anti-Muslim and anti-Islam propaganda; (3) Research into Qur-anic teachings; (4) Matters of dispute between Muslims States; (5) Other matters concerning common interest of the Muslims, will rejuvenate the Muslim world and the outside world will start counting us with respect. OIC members should persuade him.
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