Promotion of peace, tolerance in universities underscored

Islamabad : The Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), Shaoor Foundation, National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), Paigham-e-Pakistan, and Iqra University jointly hosted an online conference of the vice-chancellors on academia’s response to the challenge of religious extremism.

A total of 40 VCs from Islamabad and across Sindh attended the conference and discussed the issue of extremism in the country.

They approved a set of recommendations for the promotion of peace and tolerance at universities.

According to them, there is a need for the promotion of peace and civic education of students through co-curricular activities, faculty training on conflict resolution, the establishment of peace platforms, student societies, and elected bodies for peace and improvement in curriculum and pedagogy.

Chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology Dr. Qibla Ayaz, who was also in attendance, said there was a dire need to redesign the curriculum and pedagogy in a way that true peaceful teachings of Islam reach the students and the Islamic principle of non-compulsion should be at the forefront while imparting these teachings.

He said the students should be given an understanding of other religions too so that they learn acceptance and tolerance.

NACTA DG (outreach) Dure Maknoon also attended the event and explained how the authority was engaged in countering extremism/terrorism in all its forms and manifestation.

She said the academia’s role in that endeavour was also critical as they were the shapers and builders of the society.

"All institutions and educational fraternity should make collective efforts to eradicate extremism."

She also stressed the need for a stronger mechanism that could support and implement the policy recommendations being proposed in the VCs’ Conference.

QAU Vice-Chancellor and Chairperson of the VCs’ Committee Prof. Dr. Muhammad Ali while addressing the occasion said the set of policy recommendations was really a comprehensive document and all the participants of the conference had endorsed it.

He said that it was the need of the time to step forward and come up with implementation strategies for these recommendations that the academic fraternity has agreed upon to counter extremism.

Dr. Waseem Qazi, VC Iqra University, emphasized the need of accepting and celebrating national diversity at educational institutions.

He said this would not only create a tolerant culture but will also create a conducive environment for creative thinking and innovation.

Dr. Ziaul Haq, DG Islamic Research Institute (Paigham-e-Pakistan) emphasized the need for co-curricular activities to inculcate acceptance and inclusivity among students.

Dr. Khalid M Iraqi, VC University of Karachi said that student societies and clubs should play a pivotal role in co-curricular activities as this will engage them positively, provide them leadership skills and polish their innovative and creative skills.

Dr. Raza Bhatti, VC Shaik Ayaz University Shikarpur said that training was the key to the solution of this problem, he added that a strict training regime starting from university higher administration and faculty and coming down to the lower administrative staff should be implemented that doesn’t only train them but also equips them with the skill to implement the learnings.

Dr. Tayyaba Zaffar, VC University of Hyderabad said that it was important to give students due respect and role.

She said curbing hate speech was very important and that would only be possible when students are taught to respect each other and practice it in their daily lives.

Syed Ali Hameed, Executive Director, Shaoor Foundation, thanked all the guests and assured all the possible support to the cause of peace.

He said the PACT for Tolerance project team had already interviewed 55 vice-chancellors and held 16 Focus Group discussions that helped draft these recommendations.