The first guest on show (via phone), Dr. Neelam Yousufzai, Professor, Frontier College, Peshawar, noted that Allama Iqbal always stressed the youth to develop their leadership and critical thinking skills as an investment in the bright, prosperous and connected future. He underscored that only by developing critical thinking and inquiry skills and habits, can they learn, develop and generate new knowledge. Youth can take back control in their lives by taking back the responsibility. As future leaders, there is a huge onus on the young people to act responsibly and formulate shared goals of development and prosperity and a selfless vision which is inclusive of the communal and national development needs, and not just individual.
There are many examples of great leaders in the history, especially Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), who inspire us to cultivate the leadership traits like honesty, articulation, selflessness, and self-confidence and accountability. The institutions like family, schools and universities have a great responsibility to inculcate the values of respect, discipline, acceptance and hard work among our future leaders.
The second guest on show (via phone), Ms. Maheen, CRSS’s Ulasi Taroon Alumna, and a student of Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar, noted that Iqbal urged the young to make the most of their creative potential by developing and practicing critical thinking, and strive to achieve their goals for personal and national development with perseverance. Besides formal education, the educational institutions should support the students to master creative thinking and inculcate confidence and encouragement among them as efforts for real positive change in the society.
The third guest on show (via phone), Prof. Dr. Noor ul Ameen from Islamia College University, Peshawar explained that Iqbal’s vision for the young was self-motivated youth with dignity and self-esteem, which may seem more like ideals yet attainable. His work of writing and poetry clearly depict how he believed that the youth is the real catalyst for change. It is the responsibility of society; teachers and family as institutions to provide our youth with a conducive environment where they can fully unleash their true potential for the progress of entire society, besides just their own.
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.