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Roundtables

In May, Quilliam held a roundtable entitled ‘In conversation with Pakistan’s leading rock star, Salman Ahmad, from rock band Junoon’. 

Ahmad and his band Junoon have, for decades, been South Asia’s most successful rock musicians. Ahmad has now channelled that success by using his music to make a brave and inspiring stand against extremism in Pakistan. In conversation with James Crabtree, Managing Editor of Prospect Magazine, Ahmad spoke at Quilliam on the problems facing Pakistan, on the vibrant and culturally engaged youth movement, and on the highs and lows of his experiences in countering these extreme forces in Pakistan. As a result, Ahmad stands as testimony to the role that ‘soft’ approaches to counter-extremism can play. For full details of the event click here.

Alongside the roundtable hosted in-house, Quilliam also helped facilitate a number of other public speaking events for Ahmad to raise awareness of the problems faced, and opportunities available, in countering extremism in Pakistan. Other events were hosted at Chatham House, Minhaj ul-Qur’an London, City Circle and the University of Oxford.

Quilliam was also honoured to assist Ahmad in generating a media intensive programme during his visit to the UK. Highlights include coverage on BBC World News, Sky News, Geo TV, The Sunday Times, The Independent, BBC News Online, CNN Online, Dawn News, Guardian CiF, BBC Radio 4 The Today Programme, BBC HardTalk, (also available on YouTube here), Talk Radio Europe and the BBC Asian Network.

Training and Outreach

Ghaffar Hussain and Talal Rajab delivered Quilliam’s Radicalisation Awareness Programme (RAP), a training package designed to raise awareness and understanding of the Islamist ideology, both in the UK and abroad. In May and June, RAP was delivered to US troops in Utah and to Iraqi troops in Florida. In June and July, Quilliam delivered several full and half day training sessions to police in Telford, Worcester, and Norfolk. Presentations on a range of topics related to Islamism and counter-extremism were also given at Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Counter-Terrorism Seminar, to senior police officers in Hull and to young Muslim students in Tower Hamlets.

Talks and Conferences

In May, Ed Husain spoke at a seminar held in conjunction with Warwickshire police on identifying and preventing radicalization, James Brandon addressed visiting American students at Queen Mary University and Maajid Nawaz participated in a debate at the University of Cambridge on ‘Islam vs. Islamism: is there a difference?’ Further abroad, Ed Husain spoke at the International Peace Institute in New York as part of their ‘Countering Extremism and Radicalization in a Multicultural World’ series. He also spoke at an IPI conference, in partnership with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs entitled ‘Promoting De-radicalization and Disengagement from Violent Extremism: What Role for the International Community and the UN’.

South Asia Unit

Quilliam’s South Asia Unit made its latest visit to Pakistan in June in order to challenge extremist narratives in the country and promote religious pluralism and democratic engagement. Quilliam held counter-extremism workshops with students and activists in Lahore and Islamabad to provide those at a grassroots level with the tools needed to tackle Islamist extremism. The trip also provided Quilliam with the opportunity to expand networks and forge alliances with similar organizations.

Mid-June saw the soft-launch of Khudi, a counter-extremism social movement working to promote a democratic culture in Pakistan. Khudi is aimed at uniting and mobilising Pakistani students and young activists to form a civic, broad-based, domestic challenge to Islamist extremism. For more details visit Khudi’s website here. High profile coverage of the soft-launch included al-Sharq al-Awsat (available in English translation here), as well as a large number of Pakistani publications. A full list is available here.

At the end of July, Maajid Nawaz spoke, via video-link, at the TEDx conference in Lahore entitled ‘Ideas, Narrative and Social Change’.

In addition, Maajid Nawaz made numerous appearances in a variety of Pakistani media outlets in order to extend public messaging in the country and extend the counter-extremism message to a wider Pakistani audience. Highlights include writing for The National, and several editorials for Dawn (here and here) as well as appearances on Aaj TV, Dawn News and Geo TV. A full list of Pakistani media appearances is available here.

Media

Quilliam continues to actively promote tolerance and challenge extremism by using local, national, and international media platforms. In June, Quilliam spoke out in support of the Exploring Islam Foundation’s Inspired by Muhammad Campaign and were consequently quoted by the BBC, Sky News, and The Independent, among others. Quilliam has also featured in international news outlets ranging from The Australian to The Jakarta Post. For a full list please click here.

Over the last few months, Quilliam staff have also written for a number of news outlets. James Brandon wrote for Guardian CiF debating the place of theology in the government’s counter-terrorism programme, while Ed Husain contributed to The Times about the fifth anniversary of 7/7, and the Evening Standard attacking the Iranian regime’s intended stoning of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani. Staff members have also written for various blogs including Left Foot Forward and Pickled Politics.

Coming up

Quilliam will be hosting fringe events at each of the three main political party conferences in September and October in partnership with other leading think tanks on issues relating to the counter-extremism agenda. Details will follow shortly.