‘Expats Suggest Adopting UK Rehabilitation Model to Tackle Radicalisation’ – Pakistan: Opportunity in Crisis

Oxford – A two day international conference titled ‘Pakistan: Opportunity in Crisis’ was held over the weekend at the University of Oxford organised by University of Oxford, Forum for International Relations Development (FIRD) and Pakistan Knowledge Forum. The conference hosted over 25 speakers from various fields covering panels such as ‘Democratic Transition and Prospects’, ‘ Imperatives of Economic Progress’, ‘Foreign Policy Persistence and Change’ and ‘Role of Media & Education’. The conference aimed to engage Pakistan’s opportunities at the intellectual, academic and policy level to cultivate a mature understanding of the phases Pakistan is going through. Whilst there was mention of the crises, there was much to hope for by the end of the conference.

Opened by Mr. Imran Mirza (Acting High Commissioner of Pakistan), the conference heard that Pakistan had come a long way in the last few years and although there is a crisis Pakistan is resilient and determined. Convened by Dr. Ishtiaq Ahmad (Quaid e Azam Fellow, University of Oxford), called for ties with India and Afghanistan to be forward thinking rather than based on historical contexts and negativity for the betterment of South Asia, but with the possibility of Narendra Modi and Abdullah Abdullah coming into power, Pakistan may face difficulties with hard line leaders in India and Afghanistan. Mr. Toaha Qureshi MBE (Chairman FIRD), placed emphasis on education needing to be put at the forefront of government policy whilst proposing an opportunity of rehabilitation and counter radicalisation models that can be adopted from the UK government to be replicated by Pakistan to tackle the rising phenomenon of extremism. The lack of commitment has resulted in an incoherent response to terrorism and that has been compounding the situation. Radicalisation is to be tackled by education, dialogue and firm rehabilitation rather than military and war-like action, Qureshi added. Mr. Mosharraf Zaidi, continuing the theme of education, said that increased budgets and quality were to be focused on if progress in public sector educational institutions were to be expected.

During the panel, Prof Ian Talbot put forward the idea that comparison of 1950s Pakistan and current Pakistan would be fallacious as civil society is stronger, we can see media freedom and better democratic and electoral processes. Prof Mohammad Waseem said with the dichotomous view of Pakistan, the civilian government must prevail over the army as it has done so over the last two regimes and integrate with the rest of the world; Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa echoed the views and added that both have redefined their thresholds in recent times. Prof Maya Tudor said that Pakistan has met the crucial elements of being a democracy and has made relevant legal reforms in the process. The Supreme Court, being active and establishing its independence, is also moving away from the myopic vision it once had by calling for a review of suo moto, the audience heard from Mr. Imtiaz Gul. Although it was argued that an army coup was impossible and did not have any basis,Mr. Rashid Amjad argued that economic advantage of military rule illustrated that economic progress was better compared to civilian rule.

Democratic gains still remain delicate however and enforcing rule of law, as the principal condition to counter crises facing Pakistan, was overwhelmingly underlined by speakers including Prof Rasul Baksh Rais. Journalism does pick up on bad news, according to Mr. Owen Bennet-Jones, who added that the next term of Premier Nawaz Sharif depended on dealing with the electricity issue which has already been actioned on various fronts. Dr. Tahir Wasti spoke on Jinnah’s idea of Pakistan stating that the philosophy behind the creation of Pakistan was to have one supreme identity; Pakistani. Prof Hassan Abbas highlighted the opportunities and possibilities from the drawn down of forces in Afghanistan and its impact on the surrounding neighbours as well as implications for the Taliban.

The conference concluded by Toaha Qureshi MBE with shield presentation to the speakers and organisers at the FIRD Secretariat in London. The conference was attended by academicians, authors, writers, analysts, diplomats, security officials, researchers, students, media and the like.

The panels at St Antony’s College had speakers including Prof. Rasul Baksh Rais (DG, Institute of Strategic Studies), Toaha Qureshi MBE (Chairman, FIRD), Prof. Ishtiaq Ahmad (Quaid e Azam Fellow, University of Oxford), Prof. Mukhtar Ahmed (Chairman, HEC),  Prof. Mohammad Waseem (LUMS), Alison Darnbrough (Namal College), Prof. Kamran Tahir (Allama Iqbal Fellow, Cambridge University), Prof Margaret MacMillan (St Antony’s College), Prof. Saeed Shafqat (FC College), Imtiaz Gul (CRSS), Owen Bennett-Jones (BBC), Dr Faisal Devji (Asian Studies Centre), Dr Ayesha Siddiqa (author), Prof Maya Tudor (Blavatnik School of Government) among others.