November 24, 2018: CODE PAKISTAN held a consultation with the students and faculty members of the NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, on countering on-campus violent extremism in Pakistan. The consultation focused on the impact of social media and online content on youth and ideological imprint of extremist organizations in educational institutions.
The students and faculty members of NED University shared that the university was initially established as a college in 1921 and was upgraded to the status of a university in 1977. They shared that the university had 26 departments offering over 50 courses to 10,000 undergraduate and 3,000 post-graduate students. They added that the university had allocated fixed quotas for students from all the provinces and administrative territories of the country to study at NED University.
The students and faculty members of NED University maintained that the university did not allow any sort of intolerance or extremist activity on campus and ensured the observance of complete religious harmony. They shared that 10 different student societies were active in NED University, which were engaged in activities such as declamations, art, photography, and cultural activities. The students and faculty members of NED university added that besides these 10 societies there was a character building the society on campus that was helping the students in cultivating positive attitudes and values. They added that all the student societies were strictly supervised by the Director of Student Affairs at the university.
The students and faculty members of NED University shared that the university had developed online portals and SMS alert systems for smooth and timely communication with all its students. They shared that the Engineering Department of the university was well-equipped to develop any needed application for countering violent extremism on university campuses. The students and faculty members of NED University communicated that the political parties and politically affiliated student groups were strictly banned on their campus.
Alongside the students, the participants of the consultation included the following prominent faculty members of NED University: Dr. Faraz Akbar, Dr. Kashif Ahmed, Dr. Iqbal Tariq, Dr. Ali Hasan Mahmood, Mirza Farjan Ahmed, Dr. Shenila Zardari, Dr. M. Owais Raza, Dr. Aqeel Ahmed, Dr. Saman Hina, Ms. Sumia Najm, Mr. Khawar Jamil Uddin, Mr. M. Hassan Siddique, Ms. Aqsa Khan, Mr. Hassan Abbasi, The consultation was part of a series of consultations that CODE PAKISTAN is holding with the faculties and students of various universities across Pakistan.