Identities and backgrounds

Islamabad:Toaha Qureshi, founder chairperson, Forum for International Relations Development (FIRD), a UK based conflict resolution think tank, has said that the ideological development is not entirely related to and limited by individuals’ different identities and backgrounds and with determined will and firm resolve, these cannot deter our forward movement and journey to prosperity.

Mr Qureshi was speaking at an interaction here with the delegation of over 40 female students from newly merged districts; Khyber, Orakzai, North Waziristan and Kurram, visiting Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), Islamabad, as part of their exposure trip arranged by the Department of Criminology, University of Peshawar.

He said that the youth must realise their unique and infinite potential for communal and national development as they can contribute enormously to portray a positive image of their country especially by addressing misperceptions about their identities like religion, culture and nation.

The FIRD chief said that diversity is a natural phenomenon and society is bound to have individuals and groups with different beliefs. However, distancing from them on the basis of these differences is not only tantamount to discrimination which breeds polarisation in society and incompatibility among its members.

The best way the youth can make interventions to address different contemporary issues of social concern is by first accepting and taking responsibility of the problem, the actions to ameliorate them will follow automatically, he observed.

Stressing the importance of critical thinking as one of the factors key to counter extremist narrative, Imtiaz Gul, executive director, CRSS, noted that the young people should develop and practice critical thinking and inquiry of issues as their contribution to the knowledge building, evolution process and socio-political development. Critically thinking, he opined, youth is one of the best ways to refute and delegitimise fake news and motivated narrative on the issues that determine the state of peace and cohesion in the society. Being a good human, and responsible and empathetic citizen is as important as being a good Muslim, he concluded.