Speakers at a conference here on Tuesday called for encouraging inclusive dialogue among youth on religious, political and social themes in order to promote harmony, peace and stability and thwart the elements fanning extremism and terrorism in the society.
The 2nd National Law Students Conference 2019 titled ‘Youth for Peace’ was organised by the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan, Justice Helpline and Paigham-e-Pakistan was organised at Arts Council Karachi.
Sindh High Court senior puisne judge Justice Irfan Saadat Khan was chief guest on the occasion. Federal Service Tribunal Chairman Justice (r) Qazi Khalid, Secretary Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan Dr Raheem Awan, Justice (r) Majida Rizvi and Dr Javed Aziz were prominent among those who spoke on the occasion. A large number of law students, civil society members, lawyers and judges took part in the conference.
In the speeches, the speakers maintained that peace, security, stability, economic growth, prosperity, sustainable development, protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms of individual citizens is closely linked to the rule of law. They underlined an effective role of faculty and student forums in countering intolerance and extremism, and stressed the need to build capacity of the faculty to identify youth vulnerability towards intolerance and extremism in the society.
Stressing the need to promote use of dialogue, discourse, discussion and other means of engagement, the speakers also called for revising university curriculum to include a compulsory course on laws related to incitement to violence and hatred and introducing courses on ethics and humanities at all universities and madaris to promote peace and harmony.
Separately, a workshop was held at the Bacha Khan University, Charsadda, to raise awareness among the students, teachers and parents about darker and inappropriate side of the internet and the need to adopt methods of safe internet browsing.
The awareness workshop for youth on peace building and cyber security measures titled ‘Good Practices of using Cyber Space and Social Media’ was attended by the faculty members and over 150 students of the university.
Trainer Asfand Ausaf, while highlighting the risks of hacking and misuse of personal information, cautioned the young students about terrorist groups increasingly using cyberspace for recruitment and radicalisation of the youth. He explained how the children may unwittingly expose their families to online risks, for example by accidentally downloading malware that could give cybercriminals access to very sensitive personal information. While discussing the good practices in using social media platforms, he underscored the importance of personal data and significance of its protection.
Different videos were also played and brochures on Paigham-e-Pakistan declaration were also distributed during the ceremony besides award of certificates among the participants.
A day earlier, a national conference on peace, unity and interfaith harmony was organsied by Paigham-e-Pakistan and Riphah University in the wake of fifth anniversary of the brutal attack on APS Peshawar.
Federal Minister Ali Muhammad Khan, Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat and Islamic Research Institute Director General Dr Ziaul Haq were prominent among those who spoke on the occasion. In their speeches on the occasion, they paid rich tribute to the sacrifices rendered by people as well as armed forces of Pakistan for the sake of their motherland. They also called for launching concerted efforts to inculcate the values of peace, tolerance and inclusiveness among the youth.
