The 118th radio program as part of the Center for Research and Security Studies’ (CRSS) counter-radicalization initiative Ulasi Taroon (Social Cohesion) aired on the subject theme.
The first guest on show, Mr. Ali Gohar, Advocate, noted that critical thinking is one of the most essential soft skills, especially for young people to help them think logically, formulate good arguments, and create new knowledge. Both parents and academia should encourage the young to ask questions so that they confidently participate in the dialogue processes in a dispassionate way. Cultivating critically thinking young minds can be institutionalized through a system of education that is cognizant and responsive of the future leadership needs of the young minds.
The second guest on show, Ms. Irum Rahim, an Ulasi Taroon Alumna, noted that women have an extremely important role in the peacebuilding and development processes. We must inculcate self-confidence and self-belief in them through the capacity building opportunities like CRSS’s Ulasi Taroon Youth Workshops.
Dr. Shuja, Chairman, Department of Philosophy, University of Peshawar, in his recorded message, said that critical thinking is the pre-requisite for a democratic discourse where people with different views get each other to come around to their point of view through making good arguments and dialogue instead of forcefully imposing views on others. This process of reasoning with critical thinking at the core can help solving problems in a systematic manner and critical to complex problem solving.
This skill is of a special significance in democracies where things have to be debated, at the social level as well as in the parliament. This way, the decisions are not imposed rather evolve through am inclusive and informed process.
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 strengthening social cohesion and promoting peaceful co-existence.