The activities of terrorists' groups like Daesh are threat to the humanity during the defining moments of the history when we are facing racism, hatred and extremism, which are counter revolution and are meant to crush people fighting for democracy.
Tawakkol Karman Yemini the second woman Nobel Peace Prize Laureate of 2011, presently settled in Turkey said during her keynote address on the first day of the second edition of "Afkar-e-Taza" ThinkFest held under the auspices of Information Technology University (ITU) in collaboration with Federal Higher Education Commission, Punjab Higher Education Commission and other private sector organisations here on Saturday.
Tawakkol Karman was addressing a large number of people including academia, literature, media, thinkers, students from various universities and colleges. She said, "We choose rule of law, freedom and democracy to end terrorism as there was no choice between terrorism and dictatorship.
Religion was a tool in the hands of monarchy. Every dictator was a terrorist and every terrorist was a dictator as they always block the means of peaceful change and create misunderstandings about our great religion while there was a need to demonstrate the true spirit of Islam, a nonviolent and peaceful religion through tolerance, rule of law and love", she added.
Dr Umar Saif founding Vice Chancellor of Information Technology University (ITU) in his opening remarks said that we must question where we were going and what we could do in our personal capacity to strengthening democracy in our country and establishing an enlightened and progressive society through profound, deep and delicate exercise to contribute to narrative and counter narrative. Thinkers and intellectuals should determine and articulate during the discourse to set the goals for the country, he added.
In another session: Technology: The Silver bullet for improving governance Hassan Khawar from Center For Peace, Development and Reforms (CPDR), Salman Ansari from Salman Ansari Technology Consultants (SATC) and Ishrat Hussain former Governor State Bank of Pakistan opined that bureaucrats know the policy but have no knowledge of technology. He said that in the province of Punjab the consultancy of PITB has brought a significant change through automation and trainings.
The event is a blend of the prominent personalities and speakers of international repute from academia and literature to motivate the women and the youth. Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, lately Chairman Conservative Party UK and former Foreign office Minister will be the keynote speaker on second and the concluding day of the conference being participated by 112 high profile speakers among them, 25 from around the globe and representatives of 35 universities from all the four provinces and delegations from six universities are deliberating on promoting the new thinking.
In order to ensure maximum participation by the youth and people from all walks of life, the entry on both days is free. The topics being discussed include Jerusalem: The Future of Middle East, Midnight's Furies: The Partition of British India, Entrepreneurship meets Media: Redefining Heros of Pakistan, India Turns East: US China Rivalry, The Rise of Right Wing, Where is the Media Heading, Shrines Violence and Society in Pakistan, Standing up to the Field Marshal, Inqlab Zindabad, Mr & Mrs Jinnah, The marriage that shook India, The enemy within: a tale of Muslim Britain, The Rohingyas, The Next Five months, Artificial Intelligence as the New Electricity and a host of other hot and attractive topics.
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