CAIRO: Following what they described " an unprecedented escalation in sectarian violence, the Egyptians Against Religious Discrimination (MARED) public movement called for establishing a public committee advocating national unity. The cross-cultural movement said the committee should include representatives of political parties and civil society organizations as well as public figures who would devise a strategy to fight sectarian violence. The movement called for a meeting on Dec. 15 to discuss ways of facing religious discrimination in the wake of the events in Qena last month, when a Christian man was being held on suspicion of assaulting a Muslim girl, instigating the burning and looting of Christian-owned shops. "Sectarian clashes are on the rise, posing a threat to national unity, Mohamed Mounir Megahed, coordinator of MARED, told Daily News Egypt. "If we do not act now and come up with practical solutions, sectarian violence can spiral out of control, he added. On the meeting's agenda is declaring the establishment of the committee and outlining its goals. The movement also plans on holding a press conference to publicly condemn violence against Egypt's Coptic community, and call on the government to take action against it. The committee also plans to file a complaint to General Prosecutor Abdel Meguid Mahmoud, demanding an investigation into the Qena clashes. During the meeting, the committee is set to discuss holding a series of lectures and conferences addressing religious extremism, as well as activating the constitution's first article pertaining to citizenship. The movement also proposed calling on different government bodies such as the cabinet, the People's Assembly, and the Shoura Council to take action against sectarian violence. George Ishaq, former coordinator of the Kefaya Movement For Change, however, was not optimistic about the committee's success in combating sectarian violence. "The regime itself is the one that fuels sectarian violence, because it feeds off dividing the people into two groups - Christians and Muslims, Ishaq explained. "The current sectarian violence is unprecedented in Egypt's history; this escalation is a result of government policies which includes sectarian and extremist rhetoric adopted by state-owned media, especially television, as well as security bodies' low performance when it comes to sectarian tension, he explained.
