Daily Times

KARACHI: A two-day international conference titled ‘Diversity and Peace: Challenges to Social Discourse’ kicked off at the Karachi University (KU) on Tuesday.

Renowned scholars, academicians and intellectuals graced the occasion on the first day of the conference, which was organised by the KU’s Faculty of Social Sciences. Addressing the gathering, Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi said, “Diversity is a mutual trait of human society but a large part of the community is suffering from mutual hatred, ethnocentric mindset, intolerance, extremism and terrorism.” He added that academicians and intellectuals should play a leading role in encouraging dialogue among different sections of society.

“It is a need of the hour to promote political accommodation of diversity and a culture of tolerance and harmony through a dialogue across all kinds of divides that encounter today. We need to build bridges of cooperation, positive interaction, dialogue and mutual sharing rather than barriers and walls that divide us and cause mutual distrust and conflict,” Dr Rizvi added.

In his address, KU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Ajmal Khan said that social sciences was no more in isolation in contemporary era, as it had gained significant importance in the backdrop of the political, social and economic events taking place in the world.

“This conference will not only strengthen the ideology of Pakistan but will also unleash the process of meaningful academic discourse, which can positively transform the mindset of our people and bring a qualitative change in our society through a meaningful research in the field of social sciences,” said Dr Ajmal Khan.

Dr Ghulam Raza Bhatti, member (Operations and Planning) at the Higher Education Commission (HEC) said, “Diversity and peace are the requirements of today. Human beings are the ones who are creating problems for humanity.” Faculty of Social Sciences Dean Prof Dr Muhammad Ahmed Qadri while giving the welcome address said, “Pakistan is a land of peace, which respects all cultures and ideologies. Pakistan is an example of unity between Muslims, Hindus and Christians, etc.”

Dr Xiaoqing Xie from the University of Geosciences, China, said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was an important mark reflecting the China-Pakistan strategic cooperative partnership. Dr Olena Bordilovska from the Kyiv Taras Shevchenko National University, Ukraine, while presenting her research paper, said that Ukraine, as one of the so-called NIS (New Independent States) was the bright example of both – peace proclamations and security challenges.

While heaping praises of the KU, scholars said, “Pakistan is a peaceful country and Karachi is a peaceful city. We are here as ambassadors of diversity and peace. The KU is the centre of academic and research activities of the country. We would like to come here again as we are overwhelmed with Pakistani hospitality.”

Scholars from China, Turkey and Ukraine called for signing memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with the KU on behalf of their national universities for the purpose of students/faculty exchange programme.