A one-day conference on the problems of peace and Pashtuns was held at Pashto Department University of Peshawar in which speakers blamed the lack of tolerance, diversion from their own cultural norms and a lack of development in education and manufacturing sector as the main causes of turmoil on Pashtun soil. They said peace was a global challenge but the world powers were not serious to take long term measures to annihilate its basic causes and were themselves culpable of creating war like situations in under-privileged countries.
Participants said Pashtuns had suffered from negative propaganda from the western media to attain long-term financial and strategic gains. Professor Aseer Mangal said Pashtuns were a peace loving people who believed in mutual harmony as was evident from the era of Pashto poetry from Rohani to Amir Hamza Baba. He said inequality and the lack of dialogue on facts had produced the problems confronting Pashtuns.
Chief guest Professor Dr Azmat Hayat said the Pashto language and literature needed to be strengthened to become the language of the market. He said languages keep a nation alive and the work of Pashtun forefathers needed to be translated into others to present a different image. He said each nation suffers a transition period and it was likely Pashtuns were going through one. He said a national policy based on mutual cooperation and mutual respect was needed. Earlier, Professor Islam Gohar in his welcome address to participants described the importance of the seminar to the audience.
