Today’s Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants will be presented in Urdu and English, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Urdu and Thai.

Greetings, humane viewers, today we’ll take a pilgrimage to Multan or Madinah-Tul-Oleyah, the blessed city of Saints in Pakistan’s Punjab province, to visit with some of the courageous animal lovers from Animal Save Movement Pakistan.

Islam wants freedom. I would like to say, please realize the true essence of Islam. Love the animals. Love the birds the same way you love humans. We cannot find a single piece of evidence in the history of Islam that any of the Prophet’s companions would catch a bird and imprison them.

The non-profit organization guards the welfare of our animal friends and raises awareness among local residents about the benefits of a caring, plant-based diet. Mr. Khalid Mahmood Qurashi is Animal Save’s founder and president.

For the last 12 years, Animal Save Movement (Pakistan) is the only institution in Pakistan which has been striving for the rights of animals. We started this movement because we understand that like humans, animals and birds also have the same right to live on this Earth. We understand that the survival of humanity and humans lies in the survival of animals and birds.

Our friends who used to eat meat a long time ago, they haven’t eaten it for the last 12 years nor have they used eggs. They want an animal-loving society to come into existence, where humans, animals and birds live in harmony, peace and love. This was the reason behind starting the Animal Save Movement.

The teachings of the Great Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) emphasize showing love and compassion to all animals. For Animal Save Movement Pakistan, the infinite wisdom of the Prophet is their essential guide.

And I would like to tell that our Prophet (PBUH) has taught us to behave well with the animals. Love the animals. Do not overload them. Take care of their hunger and thirst. He even once said that if you are to tie up a camel, make sure the rope is long enough so that the camel can walk easily. And I have even heard that in the storage room of our Prophet’s (PBUH) house, there was a jar of water from which the cats quenched their thirst and the Prophet used the same water for Ablution.

I believe that Islam has taught us to live in harmony and with honesty and brotherhood.

Animal Save Movement Pakistan has been involved in peaceful activities such as rallies supporting animal rights and conducting seminars for the public and government officials on how to create a life-affirming, animal-friendly communities. In 2010, the Province of Punjab decided to demolish the only veterinary hospital in Multan to build a shopping center, and in response Animal Save held a demonstration against the decision.

For this we called strikes and arranged meetings. We only had one veterinary hospital in this territory. We saved it and now it is being relocated. After that we tried to propagate our message internationally. We mailed different NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and friends worldwide. We pleaded with them to save the animals. We received numerous replies from all over the world. Then we progressed according to the responses. Gradually, our movement started spreading and now we have more than 150 members including their families.

The group also works to stop the hunting of wild animals in Pakistan through a number of initiatives including asking the Pakistani government to ban this heartless practice.

Concerning the animals, I feel sorry to say that people from abroad come to our country and hunt our animals and birds. Instead, our officials should ban such activities. They should not let foreigners come here for this purpose. These birds and animals are a gift of God for our country to us.

Whenever animals are killed or hunted, their ecosystem gets disturbed. And because of that, the ecosystem of humans is also disturbed. So we are trying to stop the hunting of animals and promoting the use of vegetables. They give strength and are beneficial for the health of humans. It’s our message that please try to be vegetarian.

The vegetarian lifestyle is loving and promotes harmony in society. When all follow a plant-based diet, animals and humans live side by side in tranquility.

We conduct seminars and we visit schools to create awareness among the people and the children. We are working in different groups. Our main goal is to make Pakistan a peaceful country, a shadow of heaven on Earth so that people can live here peacefully and happily. It is the wish of the members of the Animal Save Movement that we also form a vegetarian society. Therefore all our members are vegetarians and we are proud of it.

I would like to quote the words of an old scholar, Mr. Saadi, that when birds and animals start migrating from a country, it means that that country is going to face drought or God’s anger. So when we saw that in Pakistan, animals were dealt with cruelty, birds are killed openly, we could also see that Pakistan is going through a tough and harsh time. Unemployment, illnesses and poverty are prevailing in Pakistan.

That’s not all; natural disasters are also striking this country regularly. Some places there are earthquakes occurring and elsewhere deadly floods are striking the country. This is the retribution of our deeds that we are facing. Taking these points into consideration, the animal lovers and animal friendly people thought that a movement should be started which would work for the safety of animals and birds which will ensure the safety of all of humanity.

We understand that birds are more wishful of freedom than we are. If we are locked in a room without our consent for five minutes, our condition becomes abnormal. And we have locked up these innocent beings, who always want to fly high in the heights of the skies. We are killing these birds so violently.

I think we are going against nature. And people who go against nature, they cannot survive on this Earth for long. Allah has given us vegetables, fruits and nuts to eat and many things to drink. So why eat animals’ meat to live when we can lead a peaceful life without eating meat?

The hallmark of a society that has progressed both materially and spiritually is one that treats animals with respect and kindness.

And the societies which have a better relationship with their animals, believe me that they develop a lot. We can give examples of such countries without any political agenda, we understand that today Europe, America and our neighbor India or other countries are on the verge of development because they are animal lover nations.

Actually, the law of love is the law of nature. As Khalid Mahmood has said, if we look at the societies of India, and other countries of the Far East, they have more vegetarians. They are not permitting that much violence, they are not suffering from so many diseases, they are generous, they are doing the function of nature that is harmony. So when we go against the law of nature, we are creating disharmony in our society, which definitely we do not like. So Khalid Mahmood, we are very thankful to him that he has moved us to play a role, to do the function that is desired by nature.

Members of Animal Save Movement Pakistan are striving to build communities where the rights of animals are understood and people no longer kill our animal co-inhabitants for any reason.

I’m a professor of biochemistry at the Bahauddin Zakariya University. For the last 30 years I’ve been teaching pharmacy students, the medical students, the agriculture students, and the veterinary students. So I am teaching biochemistry, the metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and all these things, so I usually suggest to the students that you should eat vegetables, because they can save the body from diseases, other major problems, and you will be active, slim, and smart.

Animals, they are the beauty of our hearts. They are the beauty of our society. So of course, they should be saved, they should not be killed, they should not be hunted, and they should set free so there will be beauty, and we will enjoy our life, and they have also the right to enjoy their life.

Animals are also living beings and they have their feelings too and they move like the way man does, only they are deprived of the power to speak. Apart from that we will continue our work for a vegetarian society and we believe that by doing this we will eliminate violence from our society. God willing, we will hope for a better future. Here we have started the promotion of a vegetarian society and we have contacted friends and community members to work with us so that the program may be extended.

I am Sajjad Malik. I am a singer on radio and television. I am also an instructor at an institution. I love animals and birds. I am very sensitive. Due to this reason, I love birds and animals. I don’t like to hurt them. I don't like to torture them. I am vegetarian; my family is also vegetarian. I convince my students to eat vegetables. These are very useful for our health. Meat and mutton and chicken are not useful for our health. Please eat vegetables, and vegetables and vegetables

For being a leading light of animal protection in Pakistan and informing communities about the nourishing plant-based diet, Supreme Master Ching Hai is honoring Animal Save Movement Pakistan with the Shining World Compassion Award and US$15,000 with gratitude and all love for their noble mission.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to you, Mr. Khalid Mahmood Qurashi and the other benevolent members of Animal Save Movement Pakistan for continually promoting the welfare of our beautiful animal co-inhabitants and thus following the saintly example of the Great Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him).

We are the members of Animal Save Movement of Pakistan. Be Veg, Go Green 2 Save the Planet! Be Veg, Go Green 2 Save the Planet!

Kind viewers, thank you for your company on today’s program. Through selfless love of our marvellous animal friends, may humanity forever flourish.