The Pakthuns have been exploited in the name of religion and ethnicity by foreign and local groups due to material deprivation, participants of the 2-day International Conference titled Dynamics of Change in Conflict Societies: The Pakhtun region in Perspective at the University of Peshawar concluded on Tuesday. Participants identified economic backwardness, low literacy and continuous conflict as reasons for their deprivation. Participants said while there was no doubt Pakthuns had not been politically suppressed, they had been unable to adapt to modernisation and globalization.
They said groups have used Pakthun discomfort with divergent cultural norms to use them for their own strategic benefits. The session on the 2nd day of the conference was chaired by University of Erfurt Germany Islamic Studies Chair Professor Dr Qibla Ayaz criticised the madrassa reforms proposed by the Afghan government. He said, “Statistics show 70% of suicide bombers in Afghanistan had studied in government schools and the singular focus of putting the blame on madrassas for producing religious extremism was too narrow. Government school systems need more reforms.”
Speaking about the interplay of progressive and regressive forces in shaping gender relations in Pakhtuns, Sarhad Rural Support Programme officer Kaneez Fatima said pakhtunkwali was the foundation of the individual, family and communal lives of Pakhtuns and provides them a common cultural identity outside geographical bounds. Foundation University Islamabad faculty member Hina Shahid said the link between gender empowerment and peace works well in both theory and practice. She said the first step should be social reconstruction through the rehabilitation of social services.
In his closing remarks, University of Peshawar Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Azmat Hayat Khan closing remarks said the contributions of participants from different spheres of life to the conference showed their commitment to address the issues facing the Pakthun regions. He hoped the recommendations of the conference would make themselves into policy. Later, University of Peshawar Chairman Dr AZ Hilali and Hans Seidel Foundation officer Sara Hulls thanked the audience for keep participation.
