Staff Reporter
A consultative meeting was held here on Thursday to review the training sessions and programmes organised by the Paigham-e-Pakistan Centre for Peace and Reconciliation Studies to sensitise the youth on building peace in the society and eradicating violence, extremism and terrorism.
The meeting of the experts, chaired by Islamic Research Institute (IRI) Director General Dr Ziaul Haq, was attended by renowned educationists, professionals and faculty members from different universities.
The meeting, organised by the Islamic Research Institute to chalk out a comprehensive plan of action for reconstruction of an inclusive Islamic society in Pakistan in the light of Paigham-e-Pakistan, reviewed different activities organised as part of the initiative. The participants also discussed the education system of the country and stressed that prime focus must be the syllabus. They maintained that role of media is vital to make an understanding of the narrative of Paigham-e-Pakistan. They suggested that Paigham-e-Pakistan fatwa should be made part of syllabus at the school and college levels.
Addressing the meeting, IRI DG Dr Ziaul Haq said soft efforts in the form of civic approaches to counter terrorism and violent extremism in the society are crucial to achieving a sustainable peace. He said the syllabus should be changed to incorporate the concepts of peaceful co-existence, inclusiveness and cohesion.
He called for meaningful participation of the young people in peacebuilding and stressed on the need to launch a concerted effort to promote youths as active leaders and partners in the peace processes by motivating them to become the ‘agents of change’ through national peacebuilding efforts, which will in turn also help prevent the spread of violent extremism and terrorism in the society.
