Daily Times

A leading youth development organisation Bargad commemorated the International Day of Peace with 300 youth representatives from across Punjab.

Nabila Malik moderated the proceedings of the event while earlier an informal session with youth was conducted by Usama Nasir.

Youth Affairs, Sports, Archaeology & Tourism Secretary Muhammad Ayub was the chief guest at the event. He distributed awards and certificates among the peace activists and volunteers of the event. In his address, he said, “All youth, men, women, civil society and government departments need to work together for peace building in Pakistan. I urge you all to take part in communal activities for commemorations as such are very important reminders of our role and commitments towards the global community.”

Minahil Aslam gave a presentation on a study carried out by Bargad called Electoral Hate Speech on Social Media in Pakistan, General Elections 2018.

The International Peace Day is commemorated each year on September 21 since it was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1981. It is a day of non-violence and ceasefire. Bargad, being a youth organisation, believes in engaging youth to play their role in peace building in the country.

This year also marks the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and so the theme for this year’s International Day of Peace is The Right to Peace. The theme has been selected to highlight the fact that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights does not include this right. The commemoration also brings attention to Goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.

The commemoration featured a discussion on the Right to Peace which highlighted the role youth can play in keeping peace in their communities. The panel was joined by Member of Provincial Assembly Sadia Sohail Rana, educationist Taimur Bandey, World Council of Religions Executive Director Hafiz Nauman, human rights defender Samson Salamat, trans rights activist Zanaya Chaudhry, youth innovator Aqsa Rani and education activist Farzana Maqsood.

Taimur Bandey said that peace does not have the luxury of being an option as the alternative to peace is scary, detrimental and catastrophic.

“Peace is now a necessity which impacts everyone presently and in the future,” he said.

Samson Salamat shared his work at the Rawadari Tehreek which is a nation-wide social movement initiated in early 2015 to strengthen pluralism in Pakistan in response to the prevailing culture of hatred and extremism.

MPA Sadia Sohail Rana shared that she was part of the Parliamentary Peace Committee and she highlighted many important issues on the floor of the assembly pertaining to peace. She said that she continues to do that today as well.

Sabiha Shaheen expressed, “I believe our youth wants peace but they are not clear about what constitutes peace for them and their communities.”

The participating youth came from various institutions including Punjab University, Lahore College for Women University, Comsats, Superior University, Qarshi University, National College of Business Administration & Economics, University of Engineering & Technology, Government College of Commerce, Government College of Science and University of Central Punjab. A total of 25 volunteers joined the commemoration to assist in the organisation. These volunteers joined from Multan, Lakki Marwat, Islamabad, Gujranwala and Lahore.

A social media campaign was started two weeks prior to the event to which youth contributed by submitting online videos using the hash tag #PeaceDay. During the commemoration, the audience was encouraged to post online with the hash tag which led to a trend on Twitter in Pakistan.

The commemoration came to a close with the distribution of awards to peace activists who had made significant contributions towards peace in their communities. The recipients included Salamat, Hafiz Nauman, Faran Aslam, Farhan Wilayat and Nuzhat Yasmin.

Idara Taleem-o-Agahi had organised the discussion at Garrison University which was addressed by Family Planning Association of Pakistan Regional Director Sarfaraz Kazmi, Youth Development Foundation Executive Director Shahid Rahman and others.

The discussion focused health as an important catalyst for peace building.

Published in Daily Times, September 26^th 2018.