Peace foundation CC Muzaffargarh organized a Dialogue on dated 21-9-13 titled“Peace: Need of the time” on International Peace day at Tehsil Press Club Jatoi (Muzaffargarh).
In this dialogue Sardar Shakir Mazari Senior vice President Tehreek Minhaj ul Quran Punjab said that In Pakistan violence-prone extremist behaviour has several socio-political reasons. State machinery, some way or other, had managed to manufacture the consent that Pakistan is exclusively a Muslim state, (agonizing non-Muslim Pakistanis) carved out for putting Islam into practice. State curriculum cultivates the sentiment of Muslim victim hood and inculcates in young minds the hatred for non-Muslims. Education has always been used to ensnare the minds therefore an ordinary Muslim, fed on state curricula, would tell you that warlords/Talibans have real Islam.
Conflict rising from the incident of Lal Masjid, Jamia Hafsa, tribal areas, Swat and Waziristan has made us cultivate a crop of bloodshed making Pakistan a symbol of terrorism. 1275 bomb/suicide blasts killing almost 7520 innocent citizens are sufficient to prove that Pakistan, at any time, can fall into lap of the firebrands who take Talibans as role models.
One of the major clue found common in almost all the suicide attacks is that the suicide bomber belongs to the age group of 15 to 20 yrs, including both male and females. Youth at this age has no facility of creative entertainment, counselling or positive guidance/governance for their future and career development strategy.
Dr. Ashiq Zaffar Bhatti Coordinator Peace foundation CC Muzaffar garh said that If the youth is not given proper attention, the “Frustration” in their attitudes, can give birth to tragedies like the Gojra incident, and the past Bamini Wala, Shanti Nagar, Korian Wala and Kausar tragedies. It is to be noticed that in these incidents Christian Community and other minorities have to face a lot of economical and life losses. Our organization’s main objective in this project is to involve students in healthy extra curricular activities providing them peace of mind resulting in equality, social, interfaith harmony which is the key to social welfare.
Our organization, keeping in mind the ground realities has planned to provide awareness to the youth of 13 to 20 yrs age group. School going children of 9th and 10th grade and college students can be the best sample for this awareness campaign. Also at this stage as the fellow class mates belong to different sects/religions, message of interfaith harmony can be spread and understood widely.
Through this advocacy campaign students will be given awareness about, the right path to peace. They will be provided awareness about human rights as declared by the UN focusing their responsibilities towards their parents, community, society, and their future. This campaign will also consider how they can focus their attention towards their major goals and become tolerant towards the agents of misguidance.
Moreover through group works they will be provided ideas to promote healthy recreational activities and adopt positive behaviour.
Allama Abid Shafi Mehrvi Distt President Jamaat Ahle sunnat Muzaffargarh said that In Pakistan Media war has generated a race towards defaming government and projecting of minor incidents on such a larger scale that every viewer in the country is becoming intolerant. This attitude along with the gigantic problems like load shedding, inflation, poverty, unavailability of entertainment opportunities and long working hours due to low salaries have made the parents unaware/irresponsible of building their child’s mindset towards their education.
School students on the other hand, unrestrictedly have approach to internet clubs (mini porno movie viewing centers), the lack of healthy recreational opportunities drastically is destroying not only the youth’s character but also the will to struggle for a better future. Late night long hour talk-time packages offered by cellular companies, are adding more poison to the youth’s behaviour, morally and financially. The youth un-aware of their hormonal changes fall prey to telephonic romance and are led towards adulterous attitude. This scenario is not only increasing intolerance among the youth but also giving passage to street crimes. Unfortunately there is no institute available, should it be parents or teachers, to help them focus on their studies, which is most important.
The school children studying in their last sessions at school are the one who are most vulnerable to this situation. Moreover they are about leave (the restricted atmosphere of) school and are ready to get admission in colleges, where they enter a new atmosphere of liberty. The atmosphere, they know very little about. The atmosphere where they need freedom of expression, freedom to choose their future, freedom to create their identity and also freedom to do what they think right to be done.
Nassrullah Khan Gopang Advocate said that The religious institutions of madaris, mosques and ulma closely overlap and support each other. They are one of the most important and influential stakeholders in Pakistani civil society today. Their numeric strength and influence at all levels of society provide their institutions with not only a monopoly over the interpretation of Islamic teachings, but also of wider social issues, in particular those related to women rights, democratic values, promotion of peace, the environment and the provision of social services. Unfortunately, the majority of religious institutions view development as synonymous with westernization-an onslaught of western values and thus a subsequent threat to the very existence of Islam. This is especially true of the religious institutions of the Punjab, where their geographic distance has only added to their isolationism. Nonetheless, given the enormous resources available to religious institutions, coupled with their influence at all levels of society, makes them a highly viable means of promoting social transformation in Pakistan. However, no organized or continuous effort has been made to bring these religious institutions into the mainstream of development and to tap their potential for peace building activities in the country.
Malik Muhammad ajmal District Program Manager National Commission for human development said that one of the major concerns in Pakistan is how to promote change in the type of education students receive in the estimated 10,000 Madaris functioning today. The majority of Madaris provide a free Islamic education to some of the poorest students to prepare them for work in religious institutions. However, these institutions, once prestigious seats of learning in the history of Islam, are now under intense scrutiny for their role in promoting extremist views and religious intolerance. While less than 15% are suspected of having connections with militant groups, it is widely recognized that rote memorization of the Quran, without any introduction to other subjects poorly equips students to deal with a rapidly changing world. Thus, the challenge is not to close all Madaris, but rather to support reform that encourages the teaching of non-religious subjects along with the religious ones.
Since 1999, the Musharraf government has been trying usher educational reform in madaris with limited success. In 2000, the national Security Council formed a working group “to suggest ways and means to improve the existing madrasas and to secure fuller coordination among the madarasas and the national education system without affecting the autonomy of madrasas”. the Pakistan Madrsas education board was established as well as several “model” Madrisa schools. Most of the ulema regarded these reforms as being imposed without proper consultations, thus they were opposed. In response, the government has initiated a dialogue with the uelma in order to reform the curricula in a manner that is acceptable to parties. While this is a positive step, the topics of peace and tolerance are not on the agenda as of yet.
Zahid Mustafa Gill Journalist said that What is ultimately needed is a process that supports a two-way dialogue between the government and the ulma, assuring that reform continues, but in way that is appropriate and relevant at the grassroots level.
It is critical to position oneself at this level in order to produce an acceptable module that is not seen as government imposed or worse yet, imposed from the west.
After this Maulana Akbar Saeedi President Tehreek Minhaj ul quran Jatoi, Mian Mumtaz Rahim Journalist, .Akram Qadri, Fiaz Khan Korai Journalist, Shabir Khan Journalist,M.Kamran AIMS Organization,Abdul Rehman Journalist, M.Shakir Journalist & Others participated in the dialogue
