Daily Times

LAHORE: Nobel Peace Laureate Tawakkol Karman has said that every dictator is a terrorist and every terrorist is a dictator. Some people are translating the wrong kind of Islam, which is a peaceful religion.

Tawakkol who has won a Nobel Peace Award for her struggles in Yemen as a Journalist and a Human Rights Activist was the keynote speaker on the opening session of Afkar-e-Taza Thinkfest organised by Information Technology University (ITU) in collaboration with the British Council here on Saturday at Alhamra Hall. Vice Chancellor ITU Dr Umar Saif, Chairman Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) Dr Nizamuddin, former Cabinet member UK Sayeeda Warsi, Dr Yaqoob Bangash and many others were present on the occasion.

Karman was of the view that today she stood at the moment when humanity, human rights and democracy is under threat. She said that the past century faced two bloody world wars and now racism and ethnicism are on peak, globally.

Talking about the Arab world, she expressed that things in the Arab region are very complicated; they are backed with international support. She added that Arab people are facing a counter revolution with the dark shadows of a “dictatorial system” and this has affected them so much that it has put them back in the dark ages.

She observed that seven years ago people of the Arab spring countries gathered in Freedom Square against the injustices of the influential, and now they have started a new life with the new principals of equality, love and peace. We were denied and crushed rather than being provided with justice because we were facing corruption, poverty and worse law and order.

She also explained that despotism and terrorism are two faces of the same coin, feeding from the same swamp and sustaining each other. She added, “We shall combat despotism and terror together. This is our global partnership”.

She explained that despotism and terrorism are two faces of the same coin, feeding from the same swamp and sustaining each other. ‘We shall combat despotism and terror together. This is our global partnership,’ she added

Tawakkol further went on to say, “When we initiated our peaceful struggle and overthrew the heads of despotic, corrupt and failing regimes, we inspired our people and offered a viable alternative to the terrorism narrative”. The Arab Spring taught us a valuable lesson that with non-violence the journey to freedom is less bloody and more guaranteed. This lesson almost silenced terrorism, ideologically and practically, she argued.

She added that there was not even one terrorist attack in her country in 2011 and 2012. “Who is responsible for terrorism after all, which has become more of a brand? Who is marketing it?” she asked.  She further said that people denoting the cause of terrorism to the Arab spring is ridiculous. On the contrary, the Arab spring has exposed how dictators use terrorism to tighten their grip over power and crush demands for democracy and human rights. She added that dictators always use the counter narrative of terrorism to achieve their ends.

Talking about Syria she said that the international community betrayed and conspired against the peaceful Syrian Revolution. This is what brought terrorism and violence to the country. She also said that the West’s catastrophic failure in Iraq and disastrous invasion have fuelled sectarian divisions and civil war; it left the country vulnerable to sectarian militia.

In her remarks about the reasons for terrorism she observed that a cause of terrorism is the misunderstanding of our great religion and allowing bad people to translate it. People who love the norm of killing have taken it in their hands to translate our peaceful religion, she said. We must prevent our religion from terrorists who only look to abuse it, she added.

Tawakkol started her speech with remarks about Pakistan, saying that it is her second country and she felt honoured to be titled as the ‘daughter of Pakistan’. “It’s my second time in Pakistan and the first time in Lahore. I decided to be reborn again by visiting the city of culture, history and love, which is Lahore,” she said.

Dr Umar Saif on his opening remarks said that Tawakkol is catalysing for Arab Spring. “She represents the real feelings of the youth of Yemen,” he said. In a young society she was eager to look towards a prosperous culture. He also added that this country is a threshold where we must question where we are heading towards. “We have Sayeeda Warsi as part of this Fest who took a bold stance in resigning as a Cabinet member of the UK,” Saif commented.

Dr Yaqoob Bangash did not forget to mention that both the keynote speakers were women as well as Muslim. This was for the world to understand that we as a Muslim nation support our women and let them come forward to the forefront. “Unless you can’t question things, you won’t be able to grow and learn. We wanted to focus on issues not only in Pakistan but its surroundings as well,” he concluded.

The Afkar-e-Taza Thinkfest included the presence of 20 international speakers, 60 national speakers and 30 academic institutions that spoke on topics ranging from the fate of Muslims in Britain to the Rohingya Crisis, the situation in the Middle East, the history of Afghanistan, women and violence in South Asian history, US-China relations, extremism in universities, the Partition of 1947 and also the upcoming 2018 elections. Along with stimulating panel discussions, there was also an art installation and exhibit on the 1947 Partition and a screening of awarding winning documentaries.

Published in Daily Times, January 14^th 2018.