PESHAWAR: Participants in a focus group discussion titled Discussion for Peace have stressed the need for creating awareness among youth to revive cultural norms of tolerance and peace. The discussion revolved around the theme Challenges of Vulnerable Youth and Community and was organised by Individualland Pakistan (IP), a Peshawar-based advocacy group, at a local hotel on Friday. The gathering included journalists, students, teachers, religious leaders and members of the civil society. Members expressed their views on rising intolerance and deteriorating law and order situation in the province, and deliberated possible solutions to overcome this situation. Andaleeb Zeb of Blue Veins, a Peshawar-based NGO that works for women empowerment, said that it was unfortunate that people, particularly youth, fell prey to frustration. This, she said, was due to increased uncertainty in every aspect of life. Society had become unbridled while the state and its institutions were doing nothing to improve the situation, she added. Other reasons for uncertainty identified by the speakers included injustice, unemployment, rising prices and violations of fundamental human rights. Participants also bemoaned the failure of parents and teachers in imparting on youth such values as tolerance and reverence toward all, irrespective of faith. Previous generations of parents used to play this role effectively, they claimed. Speakers also stressed the need to overhaul school curriculum and include content that instructs inter-religious harmony. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Saleem Durrani of Human Resource Development Organisation (HRDO) announced that Individualland Pakistan has recently started working on an initiative focused on promoting values of peaceful co-existence among youth, civil society organisations and local government officials. Representatives of religious minorities Pandit Addeb Chand and Shams Naveed Maseeh also addressed the gathering. They stressed their belief in promotion of inter-religious and inter-sectarian harmony in Pakistan, adding that they are leading peaceful lives in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and feel completely secure in the province. Published in Daily Times, July 22nd, 2017.