The 31st radio program as part of the Center for Research and Security Studies’ (CRSS) counter-radicalization initiative Ulasi Taroon (Social Cohesion) was aired on August 17, 2018, on the topic of “Youth as Harbinger of Change”.
The first guest on show, Mr. Usman, a youth activist, lamented that the core constitutional values – critical to social cohesion and peaceful coexistence – are not included in the educational curricula. He underscored that the educational institutions must educate the students on democratic tenets and citizens’ basic rights and responsibilities to develop a responsible future leadership. The religious leaders from all the faiths can also play a very crucial role to sensitize the youth leaders on their peacebuilding roles for a socially cohesive society.
Social media is one of the most powerful tools of the contemporary times which has both uses and abuses. However, the youth, the major user of this critical tool can decide to either use it negatively that can lead to disintegration, intolerance and extremism or opt to harness its potential to disseminate positive messaging and tolerance perspectives for social peace and cohesion.
Mr. Usman said that Pakistan will be the country with the largest youth population in the whole world in coming years. At present, the youth in Pakistan comprises over 60 percent of the total population. The situation presents itself as a great opportunity to foster development and positive change in the country through harnessing the future leaders and helping them channelize their potential into the national socio-political life.
The second guest on the show, Ms. Maha was of the opinion that our youth can go places and make a great impact for social cohesion and peacebuilding if provided with the platforms like Ulasi Taroon Youth Capacity Building Workshops offered by CRSS. Such initiatives are important to equip them with the skills needed to articulate themselves and effectively participate in the decision making and democratic processes.
She appreciated that Ulasi Taroon as a radio initiative is also doing a remarkable job by outreaching the audiences in the far flung areas.
A student from Peshawar University, Mr. Hamid Ullah Jan said in the radio report that youth should change the way they think to change the way they make an impact, therefore, they should think about collective needs, challenges and benefits rather than individual.
“Youth is like backbone of the society. We need to create awareness among our youth that national interest is of paramount importance; thus they should prefer it over personal interest as it’s an extremely critical understanding for future leaders”, he said.
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.