The 64th radio program as part of the Center for Research and Security Studies’ (CRSS) counter-radicalization initiative Ulasi Taroon (Social Cohesion) was aired on April 12, 2019, on the theme of “Role of Literature for Social Cohesion”.
The first guest on show, Mr. Fazal Mohamed noted that literature is the reflection of a society’s social and political trends. Poetry is a very powerful medium to disseminate the messages of peace and love. Literati should create such a content that can build social cohesion in the society and promote humanity.
He added that literature serves as oxygen for a society as well as a unifying factor worth leveraging. It is the reflection of the cultural norms and values of the particular era and the trends at that time. We should all try to learn the art of peaceful conflict resolution by resorting to dialogue in the centrality of discourse embedded in the global democratic values.
The second guest on show, Mrs. Zeba Afridi said that social media is an extremely powerful medium to leverage the potential of literature in bolstering peace perspectives. There is a dire need to reconnect young generation with the literature; sensitizing them in the importance of books to broaden their vision.
The guest on phone, Mr. Noor ul Amin said that referring to our classical and modern literature can greatly foster social cohesion, like Khushal Baba where he said that tolerance, dialogue and democracy are the essences of humanity. In the 20th century literature, Hamza Baba says that only the cohesion and united efforts can help achieve your ends.
While talking about the role of the writers and poets, he added that poets have always longed for unity and harmony and modern poetry also aims to prompt masses to play their role for peace and coexistence and nudge them towards conflict resolution through mutual understanding and dialogue. The current generation of literati also realizes that love and peace are fundamental to social harmony and peaceful coexistence. They also take the courage to condemn all those factors jeopardizing the social cohesion.
“A society needs book and pen to keep moving forward in the right direction and towards a prosperous future. Our positive thinking has to be expressed through words and the modern era provide numerous opportunities to give value and meaning to ideas and perspectives”, said Ms. Kalsoom Zaib during radio report in the show.
About Ulasi Taroon
Ulasi Taroon is a counter radicalization initiative of Center for Research and Security Studies that aims to address the radicalization challenges, extremist ideologies and foster social cohesion through a discourse anchored in the core constitutional values which are fundamentally essential prerequisites for social peace and harmony. The endeavor aims to cultivate and sensitize the people of KP in the core values in the Pakistani constitution and our social contract. It’s an attempt to highlight the criticality of abiding by these ideals – such as adherence to rule of law, primacy and sanctity of constitution, equal citizenry, responsible citizenship, respect for fundamental human rights, tolerance for diversity and different opinions, inclusive democracy and good governance – as a measure of fostering social cohesion and peaceful co-existence.