Punjab Assembly Speaker Calls for Curriculum Reform to Counter Extremism

Historical Lessons on 'Khawarij' Suggested as Part of New Five-Year Anti-Extremism Strategy
 Lahore,(Nazrana Times ) Ali Imran Chattha 
 

In a move to combat rising violent extremism, the Punjab government is drafting a five-year strategy, with the provincial Assembly Speaker advocating for significant educational reform.
 Presiding over a strategic planning workshop organised by the newly formed Punjab Centre of Excellence on Countering Violent Extremism (CoE-CVE), Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan stated that awareness of the historical ‘Fitna-e-Khawarij’—an early Islamic sect—should be incorporated into the national curriculum to discredit modern militant ideologies.
 “If we had done this work earlier, a considerable difference would be visible,” Khan said, condemning recent mob lynching incidents as “the worst form of terrorism.” He emphasised that educating citizens is a core state responsibility, warning that “if the state does not do its job, someone else will fill that space.”
 The two-day workshop, which concluded on Wednesday, gathered senior officials from Pakistan’s National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), provincial home departments, police, scholars, and civil society representatives. The dialogue focused on shifting from reactive measures to a proactive, prevention-based approach centred on social cohesion.
 Discussions yielded recommendations on youth engagement, media roles, digital resilience, and the rehabilitation of radicalised individuals. A key outcome was the development of governance and monitoring roadmaps to underpin the forthcoming provincial strategy.
 The CoE-CVE, established under an act passed on 25 June 2025, is tasked with creating a research-based framework to address extremism in Punjab.