LAHORE: (Thursday, August 24, 2017): Punjab Higher Education Commission Chairman Prof Dr Nizamuddin has said that institutions are vital to change attitudes for establishing peace in the society. He said that seminar, workshops etc could only create awareness however, if we wanted to bring change in society really, we would have to reform our institutions and establish new ones. He was addressing the project launching ceremony of “Inspiring the Future” for promotion of peace and tolerance in society at Al Raazi Hall here on Thursday.

The project is a joint venture of Punjab University College of Earth and Environmental Sciences (CEES) and Centre for Health and Gender Equality (CHANGE) under which efforts would be made for achieving harmony and peace in the country. PU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Zafar Mueen Nasir, renowned anchor and religious scholar Syed Bilal Qutab, CEES Principal Prof Dr Sajid Rashid, CHANGE Executive Director Mumtaz Hussain, people from various walks of life, faculty members and a large number of students were present on the occasion. Addressing the ceremony, Dr Nizamuddin said that we must move forward towards training programs for making people best citizens. He said that change could not be staged without dialogue. He said that there was need to know the reasons why a few highly educated persons fell prey to terrorist elements. “Injustice, inequality and tyranny are common in our society. There was need to debate on ideas as dialogue is only solution to cope with such challenges,” Dr Nizam said. He said that the difference of science and arts subjects must be eliminated when it came to character building and citizenship among students. He said that we were not doing research on reasons behind extremism and PU must play a pivotal role in this weak area. Addressing the ceremony, Dr Zafar Mueen Nasir said that PU would utilize all resources for promotion of peace and tolerance. He said that it was the time to give message that institutions were meant to deliver. He said that differences not only damaged individuals but institutions as well. He said that education, training, research and development were now being promoted in PU. He said we must take steps to control growing intolerance in our society for which we needed to dig out reasons behind this menace. He said that negative forces ultimately faced defeat and positive forces always got success. He said that PU had appointed advisers in all departments and they were peace ambassadors. He said that attitude change was a must for nations to prosper. Renowned religious scholar Syed Bilal Qutab said that teachers could play key role in establishing peace in society and promote tolerance because they were considered role model. He said that Islam had stressed to promote human rights in society and respect each other. He urged the teachers to think over their role in society because they were vital for bringing change in attitudes. Prof Dr Sajid Rashid said that CEES and CHANGE had taken this initiative for peace and tolerance building in society under which a lot of activities had been already planned. He said that PU CEES was taking practical steps for elimination of extremism from our beloved homeland.