ISLAMABAD: Speakers at a national seminar, titled ‘Role of Dukhtaran-e-Pakistan in Reconciliation and Peace Building in Continuation with Paigham-e-Pakistan’, on Friday vowed that a peaceful dialogue in the light of Islamic education was mandatory for the elimination of terrorism/extremism from the society and said that women can play a vital role in this connection.
The women speakers, including parliamentarians and Wafaq ul Madaris representatives, stated that women could play an important role in building a peaceful society. The seminar was organised by Iqbal Research Institute (IRI) of International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI).
The seminar recommendations were presented by the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) Chairman Dr Qibla Ayaz. Participants maintained that the points would be sent to the legislative quarters and this communiqué would be part of the next edition of Paigham-e-Pakistan.
The speakers recommended that opportunities for personal identity must be provided to women. In the four-panel discussion sessions, the speakers said that the role of the media was important for characterisation of women and children and special programmes should be organised in this regard. They also said that national educational curriculum should be prepared according to the modern needs of the society.
Speaking on the occasion, Balochistan Assembly Speaker Rahila Durrani said there was lack of implementation of women rights in the society. She said that practical measures were needed for the safety of women rights and for their meaningful role. In this regard, she said that a bill was being presented in the assembly to prevent premature marriages.
IIUI Rector Dr Masoom Yasinzai stressed the need for imparting modern education based on critical thinking and characterisation integrated with Islamic teachings. He said that there was no place for terrorism in Islam, while adding that IIUI took the responsibility to provide a narrative to the nation to remain clear about the true message and teachings of Islam to ensure peace in the society.
Addressing the participants, IIUI President Dr Yousif Al Draiweesh said that Islam was the only religion which gave complete rights to women. He called upon the Muslim societies to work towards granting rights to women per Islamic teachings. He maintained that the university was making honest efforts for women empowerment and said that the varsity’s separate campus established for females was a visible example of the cause to empower around 14,000 women who were receiving a quality education in the university. He added that the number of women scholars was more than men scholars at the university.
Meanwhile, IRI Director General Dr Ziaul Haq elaborated upon the journey of Paigham-e-Pakistan and said that its journey truly started after religious scholars at IRI announced a decree against terrorism in an effort to bring reforms to the society. He added that the decree was endorsed by scholars belonging to all religion in a programme held at IIUI and the same was also endorsed by the vice chancellors of more than 80 universities. He said that the ongoing programme was a continuation of Paigham-e-Pakistan initiative.
The seminar was also attended by Khalid Iqbal Jhagra, Dr Farkhanda Zia, representatives of Wifaqul Madaris, including Asma Baig, Naber Andleeb, Razia Madni, Tayyeba Khanum, Durdana Siddiqui and members of National Assembly (MNA) Farhana Qamar, Shazia Sobia, Romeena Alam and Huma Chughtai.
