LAHORE - Center for Education and Gender Equality (CHANGE) has taken upon itself to hold a series of Sufi poetry Mushairas in educational institutions to inculcate into the youth the message of peace of the great Sufi poets of the Indian sub-continent with the underlying objective of preventing them from acquiring extremist tendencies.   
In this connection, CHANGE organised a Sufi Peace Mushaira on Thursday at Government College Township, Lahore with renowned poet Abbas Tabish (Sitar e Imtiaz) as the chief guest. The first such event was held at Government College Ravi Road, Lahore last month.
Young Sufi poets participated in the Mushaira. College Principal, Dr. Ijaz Butt Agha, Professor Ali Muzamil, Director PILAC, Dr. Sughra Sadaf and Executive Director CHANGE, Mumtaz Hussain were prominent on the occasion.
Dr.Ijaz Butt in his welcome address appreciated CHANGE’s mission of  creating awareness of tolerance and peace in the youth through Sufi poetry. Abbas Tabish said that Sufi’s teachings should be delivered to the youth through poetry to end terrorism. He also entertained the young participants by his Sufi poetry.
In her poetry, Dr. Sugra Sadaf gave a message that land of the five rivers (Punjab) could be made a land of peace if the youth play a constructive role to counter extremism and contribute in country’s development.
Speech contest: University of Education Bank Road Campus’s debating society arranged a speech competition among campus students at auditorium hall where Ex-Principal Prof Dr Farhat Saleem was chief guest while Principal Samina Naheed acted as guest of honour.
Two topics were selected for competition including “We are what we say” and “Does technical advancements lead to behavioral devastation?” Students gave valuable arguments in both favor and opposition on two topics that were highly appreciated by the audience.
Prof Aleem from MAO College and Dr Zar Zoona performed their duties in competition as judges. Sharia Akbar, Mujeeba and Tuba got first, second and third positions accordingly.
Principal Samina Naheed congratulated the position holders and coordinators as well. Speaking on occasion, she said that extracurricular activities not only polish student’s mental approaches and skills but also make them perfect and confident in every field of life.