By Rimsha Ali Shah.
Asmat Jogezia had found his experience in the journalistic world to be an eye-opener to the realities of the world before him. This time around, when he was joining a diverse group of participants for an interfaith harmony seminar, he was not too sure what to expect.
The two-day seminar titled “Peace through Interfaith Dialogues and Culture Harmony” was organized by Emerging Leaders of Pakistan fellow and leading human rights lawyer from Baluchistan, Jalila Haider. Over 100 participants, including ethnic and religious minorities, civil society leaders, social workers, youth activists and media personnel participated in the program, which was made possible with the help of an alumni small grant from the Pakistan-U.S. Alumni Network (PUAN). All alumni of various U.S. government sponsored exchange programs in Pakistan are eligible to apply for the grant of up to 5,000 USD to enable them to give back to their communities.
By the end of the second day, Jogezai had made many connections and engaged in one-on-one discussions with the participants, while creating peace tapers and humming to the sound of the rubab playing Pushtoon tunes.
“I would love to celebrate Holi this year with my Hindu friends,” said Jogezai.
Event Brings Together Minorities
Jalila Haider, the project grantee, a female attorney from the Hazara community in Baluchistan, an ethnic minority in Baluchistan, who has been actively defending human rights specifically rights of minorities of Pakistan with 12 of her petitions reported in the High Court journal. In 2014, she was selected as an Emerging Leader of Pakistan fellow and in 2015 she inaugurated her non-profit “We The Humans” that works to advance the rights of women in Baluchistan.
“I wanted to spread the essence of interfaith harmony through art, music, and cultural revivals that allow minority groups and local opinion leaders a chance to interact, engage, and empathize, and to channel their energies in to effective peace-keeping initiatives,” said Haider.
The two-day event featured sessions on interfaith dialogue and religious tolerance, education and peace, human rights and peace, freedom of speech and expression, responsible journalism and peace promotion, youth activism and peace, and culture and peace promotion, with the ultimate aim of initiating a peace dialogue among the different religious, ethnic, and cultural groups of Baluchistan.
This was the first time that all of the primary ethnic and religious groups of Baluchistan convened to make progress on peace initiatives in Baluchistan.
Participants Discuss Interfaith Harmony and Peace Promotion
“Such events to reclaim our diverse culture, which has been under the shadow of intolerance and extremism, are pivotal to fostering a culture of interfaith harmony,” said Shams Mandokhel, a human rights defender from Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
Ishwar Maharaj of the Hindu community commented on how religious intolerance had fueled misunderstandings among communities.
Syed Dawood Agha, President of the Baluchistan Shia Conference and Qari Abd-ur-Rahman of Safir Mosque representing the Sunni sect, offered a joint prayer as a symbol of peace and brotherhood.
The event also boasted equal female participation. Razia, one of the attendees said, “This is the first time I came along with my other fellows to attend such an event. I would love to be part of such causes that promote peace in the region, and this event considered to be unique by its nature as it contains gender balance in all its aspects.”
Ms. Roshan Khursheed Barocha, a social activist and politician from Quetta and a member of the Parsi community, noted, “Today I met the real face of Pakistani youth who deserve peace and a fear-free environment.”
The event concluded with pledges to strive for peace and harmony and to fight intolerance and extremism.
Check out photographs from the event here.
