October 28, 2018: The 33rd radio program as part of the Center for Research and Security Studies’ (CRSS) counter-radicalization initiative Ulasi Taroon (Social Cohesion) was aired on August 31, 2018, on the topic of “Use of Information Technology for Counter-Radicalization”.
Tolerance comes through its education and practice. Earlier, the education was only imparted in schools and homes but now the mediums have changed where it is not just limited to schools or any other physical medium but you can get quality education from the best institutions across the world by just sitting at home, through the use of information technology, said Mr. Zafar Iqbal, the first guest on show.
He added that many social issues which would go unnoticed or unreported before have now been successfully highlighted through the use of information technology where the citizens are quite aware of its efficacy in getting their views across.
New legislation is needed to regulate the use of electronic social media to ensure that it is going to be used positively and promote social cohesion rather than polarizing the society. The presence of divisive elements on social media – causing polarization in the society and jeopardizing the social peace and harmony – must be detected and penalized.
Mr. Zafar emphasized that peace and tolerance perspectives are the fundamentally essential prerequisites for a society to nourish, therefore, there should be efforts at the state and society level to promote the democratic values critical to social peace and harmony. Also the media channels should broadcast such programming that propagates the messaging which can strengthen the social fabric of the society.
The second guest on show, Syed Furqan Ali suggested that the state, in collaboration with the educational institutions should constructively engage the youth on the deployment of information technology tools to promote tolerance and acceptance in the society. The educational institutions should also sensitize the youth on harnessing the tremendous potential of information technology for strategic communication; highlighting the social issues of the community.
“Digital technology and internet have both positive and negative aspects. It is unfortunate that in a country like Pakistan, these technological tools have been seldom used for the dissemination of positive messaging on cohesion when the quantum for negative propaganda is quite high”, said Arif Yousafzai, a senior journalist in the radio report.
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.