“The foundations of your state have been laid and it is now for you to build and build as quickly and as well as you can. Pakistan is proud of her youth, particularly the students, who are nation builders of tomorrow. They must fully equip themselves by discipline, education, and training for the arduous task lying ahead of them. With faith, discipline, unity and selfless devotion to duty, there is nothing worthwhile that you cannot achieve”. This was the last message of Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah for Pakistan and especially for the nation builders of tomorrow. He was very much confident from the youth as youth is actively seen as the driving force and one of the biggest factors in rapid development in a country. I am also confident that the youth can play an important role in shaping our society. They are the ones who provide much-needed insights about what works and what might not work for a particular community. As such, their ideas and words can influence peers, adults, and even policy decisions. It has the potential to bring innovation and creativity to a society and they have the ability to learn and adapt to the environment. Similarly, they are willing to learn and act on it as well to achieve their goals.
My hopes once again seemed to turn into faith when I returned from attending the two-days international conference held at Punjab University, Lahore yesterday. The conference title “Unity in diversity: Insights from Prophetic visions for world peace” was not only a serious subject but also is the need of the time especially for Pakistan. The thought provoking speeches of the Keynote speakers especially Prof. Herman Roborgh, Dr. Susic Sejo and Dr. Saeed Ahmad saeedi kept the audience enthralled. Herman Roborgh grew up in a Christian family and studied Christian theology. He is also teaching Islam at Melbourne University. For the past five years, he has been living between Melbourne and Lahore in Pakistan. In Lahore, he has been teaching a subject called “world religions” at the Minhaj University. His passion is to learn from other religions and cultures so as to appreciate their tradition, their values and their practical wisdom. He is of the opinion that his first duty as a teacher is to respect his students’ religion by showing them that my knowledge of Islam is in keeping with what they believe; it’s not limited to my personal view of Islam. His friendliness, sociability and humility made him very close to the participants. The participation of Dr. Raghib Hussain Naeemi, Prof, Dr. Syed Sultan Shah, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Akram Rana, Prof. Dr. Abdullah Salih, Prof. Dr. Rana Matloob Ahmad and Dr. Ali Akbar Alazhari made the conference more serious. What pleased me the most was the excited participation from the students who remained enthusiastic, passionate and zealous during each session. Their welcoming attitude, organising skills and keen attention was admirable. However, there might be more effectiveness in learning for the students if a question and answer session would have been also planned at the end of each session. Dozens of young scholars and researchers shared their feelings through presenting their papers. I really congratulate Prof. Dr. Muhammad Shabaz Manj, the chief organiser of the event and his team for a meaning full event and successful as well. It was definitely a good program which left a deep impression on the students in creating an atmosphere of peace and respect while living either in a pluralistic or as a pluralistic society. The interfaith and intra-faith harmonious feelings among the speakers and scholars made the event more fruitful and productive. The event concluded with the findings that Religious diversity helps to build bridges in understanding and that enables contact between different religions can lead to mutual respect, allowing individuals to learn from each other without having to give up their own tradition.
Undeniably, Pakistani society is in dire need of unity, harmony and tolerance. Religious diversity brings awareness to the significant differences in religious belief and practice and can foster trust and openness toward other groups. Peaceful coexistence among practitioners of various religious beliefs can prove to be the way forward for peace and prosperity. Let me quote the saying of Dali Lama (Buddhist Leader) that, “My fundamental belief is that all religious traditions have the same potential to make better human beings, good human beings, sensible human beings, compassionate human beings.”
The author is a professor of Islamic Studies at Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan
