Speakers at an international writers' conference stressed need to inculcate human values of love, peace and brotherhood in younger generation through sufi teachings to end extremism from society. They were addressing the inaugural session of the three-day International Conference of Writers and Intellectuals on "Sufism and Peace" arranged by Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) here on Sunday.
It is high time to play a vigorous role in promoting peace and harmony through intellectual insight and genuine approach towards projecting conflicting ideas, they said. Stressing need for social and intellectual movement, international writers and intellectual community vowed to join hands to eliminate all forms of discrimination and intolerance based on race, colour, religion, ethnic or social origin.
Chairman PAL Fakhar Zaman highlighted the main objective of the conference saying that it aimed to identify, recognise, and project the soft image of the country promoting sufism and highlighting contribution of sufi's message of love, peace and brotherhood in the societies. In Pakistan, the writers and poets have waged an active struggle against the martial law regimes and even received flogging and jail terms for their fight against oppression.
Only the resistance literature could serve as it plays its role for the rights of people, he added. The chairman said role of literature for the promotion of tolerance and mutual co-existence is pathway to end extremism from society.
Among the most essential pre-requisites to realise the objective of enduring stability and lasting peace are guarantee of sustainable development, respect for the fundamental beliefs and further cultivating the cultural affinity of our peoples backed by efficient utilisation of our opportunities and comparative advantages.
He quoted Benazir Bhutto's saying, "Literature has been the most direct articulation of the human condition. It is gift of speech and language, which makes the history of literature such an excellent mirror of the history of human civilisation."
Peter Curman, Swedish writer who was awarded national literary "Quaid-e-Azam Award" for his literary contribution said that the writers from different origins should formulate a plan to spread message of peace and mutual understanding. "We are indeed not ambassadors of our countries and nations but of our own ideas between each other and find ways of acting together," he said. The other local and international writers will present their articles during next two days. The conference will conclude on March 16.