Need stressed to harness potential of tribal youth

PESHAWAR: Speakers at a workshop said on Tuesday that there was a dire need to harness the potential of tribal youth as their role was key to national development.

“One of the essential elements of inclusive democracy is complaint redressal mechanism to address the issues that concern the citizens the most. The core of inclusive democracy is indiscriminate accountability and transparency that can in turn strengthen the institutions,” said Dr Jamil Ahmad Chitrali from Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Peshawar.

He was speaking at the Ulasi Taroon, Youth Capacity Building workshop organised by the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) in collaboration with the Fata University. The academician said the responsive governance hinged on the critical feedback from all the public and private sector stakeholders to improve the service delivery through an inclusive process. He believed that merger of tribal districts had come with opportunities as well as challenges, however all the stakeholders had to be a bit patient.

Sanober Khan, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Headquarters, Kohat, said that rule of law meant that everyone was subject to and equally accountable before the law, regardless of the socio-political and economic backgrounds. KP police through its massive reformation have different services on offer which are oriented for public welfare, safety and security and to meet the policing needs of the communities, he said.

“The role of students from the newly merged districts is exceptionally important to uphold rule of law,” he said, adding that youth can not only promote the prerequisites and virtues of rule of law but also act as inspiring examples by being law abiding citizens. He said there was a dire need to educate the tribal people about their rights as equal citizens to enable them effectively exercise the rights constitutionally available to them.

Shagufta Khalique, an educationist, said responsible citizenry demanded paying respect to fundamental human rights. “Pakistan has rich religious, cultural and ethnic diversity and respecting this diversity is critical to peaceful coexistence of the people from these diverse backgrounds,” she said. As a matter of social inclusion, she said every citizen was an important member of a society. They must respect people regardless of differences in terms of religion, culture, tradition, color, caste, political views etc. Ghulam Mustafa, Dean Fata University, said that Ulasi Taroon Youth Capacity Building Workshops were helping the tribal youth to channelise their potential into community development. He hoped this would also equip them with the peace building tools to cultivate tolerance perspectives.