Bringing peace back to our varsities

Pakistan is a diverse society comprising people from different ethnicities and sects. It is diverse in language, caste, creed, and traditions. A young Pakistani must be tolerant, receptive and broadminded. He should be able to think and take action in an unbiased and objective manner. People believe in dogmas and ethno-symbolism and also prefer living in communities as ethnic groups in plural societies of cosmopolitan cities. Despite their overtly Islamic character, public preferences are often based on ethnic identities.

Indigenous people doubt the affability of those living with and among them but different from them to the extent that at places their social behaviour has transformed into political ethno-nationalist movements. Likewise, clashes and conflicts, at times most violent, are seldom reported though the state officially describes it as supported or sponsored act of terrorism by hostile neighbours.

As a country burning in the fire of terrorism, Pakistan often descends into bouts of ethno-sectarian violence. It is entrapped in the vicious net of conspiracies and is facing multifarious threats, all of whom stem from the venomous seed of extremism — the gravest challenge being faced by Pakistan. Pakhtuns and Mohajirs are at loggerheads in Karachi while Punjabi and Sindhi workers are under attack in Balochistan. Even the leaders of major political parties have an extremist approach as they are constantly trying to eradicate their political rivals. This attitude is borne strictly out of intolerance, which is a by-product of extremism in our society.

Our religious clerics and political leaders act as the usual catalysts and unfortunately don’t realise how much harm they are causing. On 20^th May 2017, a violent clash broke out between Sindhi and Baloch students at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad.

If I were supposed to address this challenge, I would start my efforts from the religious sphere because religion is every Muslim’s emotional weakness. I would try to pinpoint the extremist faction, regardless of their sectarian affiliation, and deal with them with an iron hand and will promote peace loving people whose interpretation of faith is refreshingly pleasant and bring about social and political stability as well.

Now is the time to adopt non-violent approaches to de-escalate the tension at universities. Peace education should be the primary mode of instruction. As a classroom activity, students may be asked to read a story in which concepts of pluralism, tolerance, social justice, empathy, brotherhood and equality are embedded. Then, they may be asked to answer questions related to the story which require student’s personal opinion about the characters and their moral choices in different circumstances. Teachers could, for instance, organise different activities in classrooms where children are exposed to dilemmas which require a good understanding of ‘peace’ as a broad based concept.

Another key area to focus in peace education activity is the disharmony among provinces. Although the concept of Pakistani nationhood is widespread throughout the curriculum, still children may develop some biases towards people of other provinces. Peace education should be adopted as a mandatory subject in the curriculum of university students doing their specialisation in education. As they are the potential policymakers of the future, capacity-building among them can be an effective tool.

There is also a need to build the capacity of student bodies to include peace education in their manifestos. Student leaders should be given special attention as they are the opinion leaders of tomorrow and in order to train them and discuss how peace education may be imparted in colleges and universities workshops and conferences ought to be organised. Moreover, the government of Pakistan should be encouraged to increase budgetary allocation to the education sector on an emergency basis.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 24^th, 2017.

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