Not too long ago, at the request of our students, we gathered religious leaders belonging to different sects and religions into one room.
Students wanted to talk to these great leaders.
One Muslim student said, “I hear of our Prophet (PBUH) enquiring about a non-Muslim ladies well-being when one day she was not at her usual place in the street throwing rubbish at him. Through this one action of caring about her and going to her home to help her, he brought peace amongst different followers.”
A Christian girl said, “Jesus Christ spoke of providing non-believers with what they needed and giving them food and water. He himself sat and ate with sinners. Through his actions, he brought people together and no one felt excluded.”
A Hindu student said, “My spiritual leader welcomes all people to his town irrespective of the religion they follow. He says we are all God’s creation so how can I make anyone feel unwelcome?”
In this small room where there was not even standing room left, a boy asked the religious leaders, “What are you doing to make the world a peaceful place?”
These young people asked more questions that everyone should be asking of our religious leaders. Questions like:
“Would it be too much to ask leaders to speak out when target killing or suicide bombing or honour killing or blasphemy deaths occur?”
“Could you not give the message of peace that every religion has to offer?”
“Couldn’t you tell everyone that the association of such terrible acts of extremism with religion is a direct attempt to undermine the conduct expected from us as followers?”
The room went silent.
Ideas alone are powerful and are the start of change.
These students I write about are not mythical people. They are our students.
We have worked with them over many months to develop their critical thinking. We get them to question and to determine the consequences of what they think, say, or do.
They see the decline of social values in our society, the hatred across ethnicities, religions and sects. These students, while being passionate about their own religion, can now spot the manipulation of religion by extremists, to serve the greeds of evil men and women.
People alone bring change. Youth empowered can bring change within a much shorter period than governments and non-governmental organisations.
And when we speak of change, we do not mean resources spent on building schools, hospitals and houses. Such expenditure has been happening for centuries and to what result? The world stands in turmoil with our religious, financial, cultural and international institutions weakening. Democracy is under constant threat.
It is evident that someone is benefitting from such insecurities and uncertainties and they are actively fuelling the divisions between countries and religions.
I am writing this because every young person has tremendous potential. In the absence of guidance and skills to evaluate the things that they see and hear, they can become the victims of extremist groups and the perpetrators of basic human rights violations.
We need your help to ensure that every young person leaving school is empowered to make the right choices. Their values and actions impact on our future.
Our goal is to reach at least 12 schools just in this year. We need to bring this successful and vital programme to the students in Pakistan. They are being actively recruited by extremist groups.
Please visit our projects page:
Prosperity Without Extremism – Making A Difference In Pakistan
www.ythre.org/projects – and help us now by donating as much as you can. All our tomorrows depend on your continued support.
Can I also ask you to share this article with your friends and associates and encourage them to support this programme as well?
If you have any questions about the programme or our ongoing activities that support it, please contact us.
Fareeda Abbasi
Youth Together for Human Rights Education.