Press Release: 'Khudi', new Pakistani social movement, launches
28 June 2010
On 14th June, Khudi, a new social initiative based in Pakistan which is supported by Quilliam, was successfully soft-launched. Khudi, which means ‘Awakening’ in Urdu, aims to bring together students, young people and civil society groups in Pakistan to challenge extremism, promote genuine democracy and work for a more peaceful, prosperous and inclusive South Asia.
Khudi’s aims include:
- Opening up spaces in Pakistani universities to enable students to freely debate the great issues that affect Pakistan today – particularly issues of identity, nationalism, democratic governance, women’s rights and regional stability,
- Creating a magazine to allow students from around Pakistan to openly express themselves on these subjects and to share their ideas on how to make Pakistan a better country and how best to challenge different aspects of extremism
- Working through the media to challenge political and religiously-justified extremism and to articulate and defend Pakistan’s unique heritage of democracy and pluralism and its traditions of religious tolerance
- Creating a grassroots social movement that can effectively challenge both the causes and symptoms of extremism, and promote a democratic culture in universities and other key areas, through working with existing civil society groups
Since launching earlier this month, Khudi has already made considerable progress, holding seminars at universities, launching a student magazine - The Lantern - and bringing together pro-democracy civil society activists from around Pakistan. Much of this work has been covered extensively by Pakistani media, including on Geo TV, Express TV, in Dawn newspaper and elsewhere. Khudi was founded in 2009 by Maajid Nawaz, who is also the co-director of Quilliam.
Maajid Nawaz, co-director of Quilliam and founder of Khudi said:
‘Khudi is a much needed initiative that is about giving ordinary Pakistanis students the confidence to freely and openly discuss important political and social issues that have so much impact on their daily lives. With over 60 percent of Pakistanis under the age of 25, organisations like Khudi that work directly with young people can play a key role in strengthening civil society and making Pakistan resilient to extremism. Thanks to its committed activists and volunteers, Khudi has already made considerable progress and we are confident that it will continue to do so in the future.’
To find out more about Khudi, please see:
- Khudi’s website (www.khudipakistan.com)
- Khudi’s Facebook fan page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Khudi/116701735007312?v=wall&ref=ts)
- Khudi’s Twitter account (http://twitter.com/khudipk)
Maajid Nawaz is currently in Pakistan working with Khudi. For media inquiries, please contact Khudi’s staff on +92 300 500 4445 or email
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Notes:
1. Quilliam is Britain's first counter-extremism think tank. It is an independent organization and believes in political representation as citizens through
Parliament.
2. For further information, please call Quilliam's media line on 0207 182 7286 or 07590 229 917 or email
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Challenging Extremism l Promoting Pluralism I Inspiring Change
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