Countering extremism: Khudi Festival of Ideas opens

Discussions on women’s rights and democracy planned for four-day conference.

LAHORE:

Some 200 people have registered for the Khudi Festival of Ideas, a four-day conference which started here on Friday and which organisers say aims to bring the youth together to deliberate on extremism, social issues and democracy.

The first day of the festival here at the Ali Institute of Education was taken up mostly by registration and ice-breaking sessions conducted by the organisers.

Some 100 delegates associated with Khudi registered for free while the rest were charged Rs1,000 each. The 200 or so registrants are from 37 cities including Attock, Bahawalapur, Chitral, Faisalabad, Kotli, Peshawar and Muzaffarabad. The largest number of delegates is from Lahore (37), followed by Islamabad (24).

“The aim is to bring together the young minds on a platform where they can discuss the issues that challenge our society,” said Umair Vahidy, who is spreading the word about the Khudi festival through social media.

“The youth will be given a chance to share their concerns and offer their solutions.”

A panel discussion on the schools curriculum was held at the end of the day.

The panellists, including MNA Ayaz Amir and Beaconhouse National University Dean of Mass Communications Dr Mehdi Hassan, discussed whether the curriculum, in their view, promoted tolerance and peace or hate and strife.

Discussions on women’s rights and the workings of democracies are planned for the next few days.

Activist Taimur Rehman and entrepreneur Farhan Masood will hold workshops on Sunday.

The last day of the festival will include a protest at Liberty Chowk against the recent attack on schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai by the Taliban in Swat. “All the delegates will make their way to Liberty as a show of solidarity,” said Vahidy.

Khudi describes itself as a social movement aiming to counter extremism in Pakistani society.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13^th, 2012.