Peace conference: ‘Ayub era restrictions politicised campuses’

Speaker says need for cyber crime law has increased following Axact scandal.

LAHORE: Reduced political space in the Ayub era resulted in the transition of politics to university campuses, researcher Amir Riaz said on Thursday.

He was speaking at a session on peace building at campuses on the second day of a peace conference underway in the city. The speakers at the session said military regimes had played a pivotal role in politicising campuses. This, they opined, had culminated in the eruption of violent clashes between members of competing parties. They stressed the importance of extracurricular activities saying they could play a crucial role in preventing the outbreak of violence at campuses. Government College University Vice Chancellor Khaleequr Rahman said GCU had a time-honoured tradition of promoting extracurricular activities. He said the varsity’s drama society was nearly 100 years old.

Lawyer Syed Ali Raza said the United States had decided to preserve the first amendment to the American Constitution despite the uproar in the Muslim word over the Terry Jones episode. He was speaking at a session on the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2015. Raza said Europe presented a different example on this account due to its turbulent history. He said this had made protection of religious sentiments possible in the continent’s laws. “There are different cases that can be used for purposes of policy formation. However, the state has to clearly define its interests before this can happen,” Raza said. He said the need to legislate on cybercrime had become more pressing in the wake of the Axact scandal.

A session was also organised to raise awareness among youngsters regarding communication strategies employed by terrorists. The speakers talked about strategies that could be used to counter this. They also shed light on radicalisation of students at campuses stressing the importance of maintaining a healthy balance. Communications Research Strategies CEO Aniq Zafar, writer Wajahat Masood, Sehar Tariq of the United States Institute of Peace and Tauseeq Haider of Black Box Sounds were the panellists at the session. The crux of the discussions will be presented to Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif today (Friday). The conference has been organised by the government and Bargad Volunteer Network.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 29^th, 2015.