PESHAWAR: The international two-day conference on the rising intolerance and violence in the society held here recently showed that the city despite suffering from periods of insecurity was still able to host such events.
The conference made a renewed call for stopping stereotyping of the Pakhtuns and making efforts for bringing an end to violence.The panellists as well as participants were unanimous that violence and intolerance in all manifestations were poisonous for the society and unbearable in a civilized society. They called for collective efforts to promote tolerance through media, art and culture, awareness campaigns and educating the society.
Delegates from Denmark, the United States, United Kingdom and Afghanistan were among the participants.
The event was titled Faceoff, an integrated arts workshop. The Islamabad-based art institute, Hunerkada, organised the conference in collaboration with the culture department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The US Consul General in Peshawar, Marie Richards, who briefly spoke in the inaugural session, welcomed holding of the event in the city and said her government gave donation for organizing the conference.
Hunerkada chairman and well-known artiste Jamal Shah presented the welcome address, introduced the foreign delegates and deplored that invitees from India couldn’t come as they granted given visas.
Foreign delegates Clive Stafford Smith, a lawyer working for the release of some Guantanamo Bay prisoners from the platform of “Reprieve” and a critic of the US drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas, film maker and writer Edmond Clark, Olay Rito from Denmark and Hamdullah Arbab from Afghanistan also briefly spoke in the inaugural session.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information and Culture Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain, who the chief guest, said holding the international conference in Peshawar showed that the city could host such events and its people were resilient despite having suffered the most from acts of terrorism.
He lamented that the Pakhtuns and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa despite their sufferings were still being blamed for being a source of terrorism. He noted that despite terrorism and violence, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government set up more universities, colleges and schools in four years than all put together in 65 years since independence.
Mian Iftikhar disclosed that the US ambassador complained to Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti about him when he spoke his mind in an event in Islamabad and highlighted the part played by the US in the past to strengthen religious fundamentalism.
The three sessions on Monday were devoted to discussing the sources and dynamics of intolerance and the stereotyping and profiling, the role of media in promoting tolerance in the society and the impact of art and culture.
Dr Johar Ali and Clive Stafford Smith, who identified himself as both British and American, presented papers in the first session. The panellists in the session included Khalid Aziz, Dr Ijaz Khan, Dr Sarfaraz Khan, Dr Raj Wali Shah Khattak, Brig (Retd) Saad Mohammad and Rahimullah Yusufzai.
Dr Altafullah presented a paper on the media in the second session and then the issue was discussed by a panel that included Irfan Ashraf, Aqeel Yousafzai, Hasan Khan, Sadia Qasim Shah, Rahimullah Yusufzai, Saleem Safi and actresses Shahnaz Sheikh and Zeba Bakhtiar.
The panellists admitted the media, especially the electronic, was under criticism for glorifying terrorism and airing unauthentic news with exaggeration. Abrupt expansion of media and opening of dozens of TV channels during the government of former president Gen (R) Musharraf created the mess and inexperienced guys were inducted in the field of journalism. Lack of proper training and code of ethics for journalists were blamed for the deteriorating situation in this sector.
Olay Rito and Aijaz Gul made presentations in the third session. A number of panellists then discussed the topic.
On the second day that was devoted to art and culture prominent among the panellists were Saadullah Jan Barq, Brig (retd) Saad Muhammad, Rahmat Shah Sail, Zeba Bakhtiar, Madeeha Gohar, Aijaz Gul, Rajwali Shah Khattak and Dr Khadim Hussain. Due to closure of the Khyber Road many invitees couldn’t reach the venue in time.
The panellists were unanimous on the point that militancy had badly affected the local art and culture as artistes had to abandon the field and some left the country or the province. However, they stressed that art and culture of a society could not be suppressed by force. It was argued that art and culture was the identity of a nationality and society and it was something durable. (The News International )
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