Samina Alvi urges women to play due role against extremism in society

ISLAMABAD: First Lady Samina Alvi has urged the women to play their due role in eradicating extremism from society.Addressing a book introductory session of a conference titled 'Dukhtaran-e-Pakistan in peace building and harmonisation of society' organised by International Islamic University on Wednesday, she said women had an important role in nation building. The first lady said Islam has provided equal opportunities to women.She said the development of a society is unachievable without the participation of women. "It is our responsibility to portray Pakistan as a peace-loving country. Women should be economically independent to achieve the goals," she said.Talking about breast cancer awareness, the first lady said one woman dies every fifteen minutes due to breast cancer in Pakistan. She said breast cancer diagnosed at an early stage is curable. She hailed efforts of International Islamic University (IIU) females for Dukhtran-e-Pakistan, saying that the narrative has shown the world that Pakistani women are envoys of peace.IIU Rector Dr. Masoom Yasinzai said the Paigham e Pakistan narrative had been hailed across the world and IIU had put all its efforts to prepare and disseminate the message of peace. He said women had power to change the fate of the Muslim world.The rector said 16,000 female students of IIU will work as envoys of Paigham e Pakistan and they will be taking Islam’s message of peace and harmony in every corner of the world. He urged the youths to take guidance from the Holy Quran and apply its teachings in practical life.The rector hailed the prime minister’s speech in UNGA saying that Imran Khan represented every Muslim on the topic of Islamophobia. IIU president Dr. Ahmed Yousif Al-Drawieesh discussed the importance of peace and teachings of Islam.He said that peace is akin to oxygen to society. The IIU president said Islam is the religion of peace, it discourages extremism and violence. He said educational institutions and religious seminaries were vital places as they could effectively train the youth to counter extremism in the society.He elaborated on the role of women in Islamic history and correlated the examples to the contemporary requirements, adding that mothers are the best teachers and mind builders who can nurture children to fight the menace of terrorism in the future.Dr. Farkhanda Zia, Vice President, Female Campus, IIU, apprised the audience about the topics and chapters of the book. She said the book Dukhtran-e-Pakistan is an effort to counter extremism. She also briefed about the aims and objectives of the conference. She hoped that the deliberations of the conference will work as a shield to fight terrorism and build a peaceful society. She stressed upon women to play an active role in defeating violence and asked them to be contributors for building a harmonised and sustainable society.Dr. Farkhanda said that women from all walks of life have endorsed the narrative saying that extremism and violence have no place in Islam and Pakistani society. The session was also attended by IIU Vice Presidents, Deans, DGs, Directors, faculty members and other scholars.The conference was organised by IIUI’s female campus and Iqbal International Institute of Research and Dialogue in collaboration with the Council of Islamic Ideology.

from The News International - National https://ift.tt/2poubqW