By: Nuaman Ishfaq Mughal
ISLAMABAD: E HANDS, an Islamabad-based youth-led organization organized Taleem-e-Amn, a three-day peace camp for the students of Jamia Baitussalam, a religious-cum-contemporary education institute at Talagang, District Chakwal. The peace camp included 5 thematic workshops, a sports match and a visit to NAMAL University Mianwali. It was first of its kind program for the students of religious seminaries.
The first thematic workshop “Theory of Peace and Self Peace Development” was conducted by Mr. Zafar Ullah Jan, a British Council certified trainer on peace and conflict transformation. The second thematic workshop “Peace & Conflict Resolution for Social Peacebuilding” was conducted by Dr. Abdul Muhaimin, Chairman, Department of Islamic & Religious Studies, University of Haripur. He emphasized on accepting diversity, different beliefs and the importance of conflict resolution for social peacebuilding. In the evening of Day 1, a football match was also organized for the participants.
On day 2, a visit to NAMAL University Mianwali was arranged. The participants of Taleem-e-Amn attended a session on Scholarships and admissions at NAMAL. The madrassah students and university students got networking opportunities. They had interactions with each other. The students also had a boat tour in Namal Lake. A Meeting of senior management of Jamia Baitussalam with the Rector and HoDs of Namal was also arranged. The meeting went very well and the representatives of both the institutes showed great interest in collaborating in major areas of cooperation. The whole purpose of the visit was to build university-madrassah linkages.
The third thematic workshop “Morality, Religion and Peace” was conducted by Amir Hussain Qureshi, faculty member at Jamia Naeemia Lahore. On day 3, the fourth thematic workshop on Nonviolent Communication was conducted by Malik Muhammad Omair. Syed Athar Ahmad Bukhari, Member, Prime Minister’s National Youth Council also attended and had a brief talk with the students. The fifth thematic workshop on Peace Education & Islam was conducted by Mr. Ghulam Murtaza, Executive Director, Peace and Education Foundation. He also involved the participants in a group activity and introduced Peace Education and Islam textbook. This textbook holds its importance because it has been approved by all the madrassah boards of different schools of thought.
“We have been working for the betterment of our society through 16 different projects all across Pakistan. Engaging students of religious seminaries holds profound importance”, Nadir Ali Khan, CEO, E HANDS told.
“Engagement of religious youth in positive and productive activities is the need of the hour. This project is very close to my heart because it has created an impact that will translate into many meaningful outcomes. We were able to build university-madrassah linkages and it is a great success for E HANDS. Our aim is to educate them about peace and harmony, so they become advocates for tolerance and peace” M. Hussain Amin, Program Officer, E HANDS told.