Democratizing Youth…
Between the rolling trails of far-reaching hill stations lies the beautiful town of Nathiagali. Its exquisiteness comes from the abundant Walnut, Pine and Oak Maple trees and wonderful weather. In short, it is the best place to take refuge when one wants to pull out from the hustle and bustle of routine life for a while.
Every time a person attempts at retreating from the busy life, reflections and introspection are bound to come along. Same idea was encashed by the National Assembly of Pakistan; a retreat, starting from April 19 and ending at April 22, was organized for youth where opportunities to reflect and retrospect were aplenty.
The interprovincial youth retreat, themed as Youth and Democracy: How to make it Work was all about acquainting the youth with democracy, how it works and why it should work. The event was organized by the National Assembly of Pakistan in collaboration with British Council, Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Services (PIPS), Young Parliamentarians Forum (YPF), and SUBAI-Pakistan.
One of the significant features of this entire activity was that diversity, both cultural and otherwise, was ensured. Participants aging from 18 to 28 years were invited from across the country to attend the conference. The organizers also made sure that all the participants manifested either academic excellence or leadership skills.
Not only this but also the experts/panelists of the conference were invited from a wide spectrum of politics, law, civil society, media, and academia. The purpose was to inculcate critical thinking skills among the youth by exposing them to numerous interactive sessions with the upper stratum of the society.
Essentially, the objective behind this entire activity was to sensitize the Pakistani youth to democratic norms and values while making them go through the practicalities themselves. To do that, the participants were required to join either Blue Party or Green Party (two party manifestos were provided based on which the allegiance was to be made). In order to pique youth’s interest in books, a book club was arranged where participants could borrow a book of their own choice for leisure reading.
Another interesting thing about the conference was that the participants were to choose one table for breakfast where they were catered with the company of a noted politician or a cultural, social celebrity.
Day 1:
The conference started at PIPS with the introductory remarks of Shamoon Hashmi, a Joint Secretary at National Assembly. The man has a way with words and always gets a pin drop silence from the audience while he speaks in rich Urdu in a style that can only be attributed to him.
He invited Senator Raza Rabbani to give the inaugural address. An eloquent speaker he is, he captivated the youth’s attention for the entire session. During his address, he resented the state engineering through education that played a major part in the non-democratic behavior of Pakistani society. Rabbani, a seasoned intellectual cum politician, talked about numerous reasons that sabotaged the democratic process. He stressed the importance of a grand intra-institutional dialogue to keep the democratic process running effectively.
There was a Q&A session afterward. The participants were intrigued to know more due to which Q&As made it to the lunch table as well.
After arriving at Nathiagali and going through the registration process, the participants gathered in the hall where Executive Director PIPS, Zafarullah Khan gave a welcome note. Following the note, there started an exciting debate on ‘What is Wrong with Democracy?’ It was an interactive, moderator-led TV Talk Show that generated heat in the shivery evening of Nathiagali.
The participants were asked to gather according to their chosen party and elect a chief whip and a leader each. Green Party was in majority so it was designated as treasury while Blue became Opposition. After this activity, the parties were supposed to prepare in the coming days for a debate on the floor of the House and for writing the party manifestos in line with what they learned from the entire conference.
There were two panels, one consisted of young, aspiring student leaders and the other comprised seasoned activists, intellectuals, and media persons. The renowned anchor, Rehman Azhar, moderated the debate. Panel 1 comprised Zafrullah Khan, Dr. Jafar Ahmed, Marvi Sarmid, and Sohail Chaudhary, the names that no longer require any introduction.
On the other side, there were young participants including Moayyed Jafari, a celebrated journalist and Amir Hayat Bandhara, member District Council. The purpose of this session was to give youth a chance to state their complaints regarding democracy. The entire session resonated with a saddening echo that despite democracy being enshrined in the constitution and the world having agreed upon it as the best option, we were still debating over whether it is good for us or not.
Day 2:
The next day started with a seemingly never-ending downpour, which turned into snowfall within few hours. The frost made the surroundings scenic, as everything, the trees, shrubs, and roofs got covered in a glossy white pane of snow. However, that snowfall led the administration in a pickle, as many speakers could not reach the venue owing to the roads blockade.
Nonetheless, the day started with a keynote address by Senator Farhatullah Babar on ‘building blocks of federal parliamentary democracy.’ It proved to be a very fruitful discussion as the young individuals eagerly participated in the conversation. The Senator enlightened the youth regarding the building blocks of federation and those that were stumbling. He also made a comment that we need to do away with the stumbling blocks; otherwise, we would not be able to work out the building blocks.
The next session was a debate turned discussion on another burning subject: ‘Is Parliament relevant for a functioning federalism and relevant democracy?’ The panel comprised an MNA, Saman Saltana Jafari, a fine lady with an incredibly down-to-earth personality, given that a few people can achieve what she has at a very young age. However, despite her humble posture, she gave an impression that she was not to be crossed.
Senator Agha Shahzaib Durrani, the two academics Dr. Syed Jaffar Ahmed and Zafarullah Khan were also part of the panel. The debate went on and on for hours where the youth cleared their misconceptions about the parliament. Due to the blockade, some speakers could not reach the venue, so there came an interesting session that somehow started of its own accord. Marvi Sirmed talked at length about harassment that women had to face every day.
She also emphasized the need for gender sensitive law formulation. Honorable MNA Saman Sultana also raised a few issues including objectification of women. Another panelist, Moayyed Jaffari raised a point that women also had a role in their own objectification. Altogether, it was a productive debate where the participant learned different perspectives regarding the subject.
After that, there was the most illuminating session of the conference: The Resistance Movement through Arts & Literature. The resistance poetry recited in the tuneful voice of Shamoon Hashmi hooked the audience through the end. Dr. Syed Jafar Ahmed gave the historiography of resistance.
After that, Sania Saeed, a legendary name of TV and theatre, shed light on the impressive role of theater in the resistance movement of Pakistan. The next speaker was Adeel Hashmi who talked about the literature of resistance. His session was quite meaningful as he emphasized the importance of the Urdu language while resenting the fact that majority of the youth was oblivious to the beauty of their own language.
Day 3:
The third day started with a keynote by Afrasiab Khattak on ‘Why is ideology missing in Pakistani politics? Importance of Party Manifestos’. He spoke openly about the non-democratic behavior and subversive elements of our country. He emphasized that extremism was being injected into the country to fulfill the vested interests of some people. He also asserted that the people were kept in the dark on purpose regarding the ideology of Pakistan.
Another panel discussion: ‘Understanding the Psyche of Vice — Listening from the Victims’ was arranged for which Lala Iqbal Khan (father of Mishal Khan), Ms. Musarrat Misbah (founder of initiative acid burn victims) and Aakif (APS massacre survivor) were invited to speak. The session left the audience mulling over where the Pakistani society went wrong to generate the mindset which only knows to kill the other perspective. The session was moderated by Sania Saeed. At the end of this session, there was not a single person who was not teary-eyed.
After that, the two parties, Green (treasury) and Blue (Opposition) held a debate on ‘Social media should be regulated or not?” Both sides made valid points and quoted examples from real life for why and why not social media should be regulated. The well-made points from both sides represented the dilemma we are facing now as to what extent social media should be regulated, so it neither impacts freedom of expression nor becomes a platform for hate speech.
The next session was a technical one. Additional Director General ECP was invited to shed light on the electoral process. She elucidated the electoral process while pointing out the dismally low women participation in the process. While doing that, she also cleared certain misconceptions regarding the role of ECP.
Senator Rubina Khalid who shared her journey of activism with the youth conducted another thought-provoking session. She told the youth about her relentless efforts to get the transgender rights’ protection bill passed through the Parliament.
At the end of the day, a cultural night was organized to depict the variety in many hues of our country. Along with diverse ideas, diverse cultures were also celebrated at that night. The participants showcased their cultural attires, music, and dance with energy and passion. That night, we got to learn what made Pakistan so beautiful.
Day 4:
The last day started with a high-energy session by Umair Jalianwala who spoke on Active Citizenship. He also made all the participants reminisce what they learned in the past three days. After that, the party caucuses went on to write the manifestos in line with what they learned in the past days. The leader of opposition and the prime minister presented the manifestos of their own party. The conference ended with the concluding remarks of Shamoon Hashmi, and the participants returned where they had come from.
