Young people urged to come out of divisive tendencies

Islamabad
Lok Virsa Executive Director Dr. Fouzia Saeed has asked young people to come out of divisive tendencies and go for already tested rich narratives developed in thousands of years.
She was chairing a seminar on ‘Roots of religious tolerance in Pakistan’ organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) to welcome her appointment at Lok Virsa and screening of ‘The Story of a Banyan Tree’ reflecting 9,000 years of spiritual heritage of Pakistan. Moazzam Bhatti conducted the proceedings.
Dr. Fouzia Saeed said that we are rich in progressive heritage and need to have access, exposure and connectivity with the youth. She said that when we change identities, we treat the rest as “others.” Pluralism and diversity become first casualty of such an attitude, she stressed. Dr Fouzia expressed the hope that there are people who want to revive pluralistic attitude in society that can take us away from intolerance, violence and terrorism.
Shafqat Kakakhel, chairman of the SDPI Board of Governors, said that the documentary reflects upon the vision of the Quaid laid down in his August 11 speech in the Constituent Assembly. He said that the roots of Pakistan were laid down much before Mohammad bin Qasim came here.
He said that the subcontinent emerged from a culture of tolerance and accommodation developed in thousands of years and if we do not link ourselves with our past, roots of Pakistan cannot be strengthened. He said that unless the ideas of inter-faith respect, peace and tolerance are not implemented, objectives of creating Pakistan cannot be materialised.
Dr. Kamran Ahmed, speaking on the occasion, said that now we see not only forced religious conversions but also Muslims being made a target. He lamented that we are losing our link with the land and its 9,000 years old cultural heritage.
Narrating the history of Hinduism, he said that Janeism, Buddhism, love in Bhagti and Sufi traditions were reaction to discriminatory caste system of Hinduism. He said that extremism had no roots in history of the region. He narrated segments of ‘Tareeqat’ his latest book on ‘sufism’.
The segments include ‘Ishq’ (love), ‘Jamaliyat’ (aesthetics), ‘Tawakkul’ (confidence), Spiritualism, ‘Rawadari’ (tolerance), ‘Wahadat ul Wajood’. He said that the Banyan Tree (in D-7) is no more there but soil is there with which we are rooted. It links us with mutual accommodation and we can coexist. He said that spirituality is experiencing and feeling and not describing something in words. He said that in our childhood and youth, we used to offer prayers without knowing to which sect a mosque belonged and visited each other’s houses on festivals without considering if one is Shia, Sunni, Deobandi or Barelvi.