Abstract
The current study was carried out in order to explore the perception of different faith communities on the status of social networking in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is one of the provinces of Pakistan which has been facing a severe wave of terrorism and extremism since 9/11. It was believed that the most affected community would be the minority groups in the province being the most vulnerable one. In this context, it was critical to capture the perception of different faith communities. A total sample size of 282 respondents was selected comprising of 143 male and 139 female for the data collection. The data was collected in eight districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The respondents belong to both public and private sectors. Among the respondents, Muslims were 95 Christians 90, Hindus 57, Sikhs 36 and 4 others respectively. Overall, 100% of the respondents have good understanding of the Islamic faith followed by Christianity with 98.5%, Hindmat with 93.5% and Sikhmat with 91%. Respondents normally interact with each other and are willing for more such interaction. They believe in lack of interaction causes misunderstanding. They embrace dialogue and peace for better understanding, development and prosperity of the country. They strongly believe that different faith communities can live peacefully in Pakistan. They showed willingness to facilitate interaction, to let others learn their faith, and to learn about other faiths. They put emphasis on religious leaders to play key role in peacebuilding among different faith communities.
Presenters
Rashid Ali SyedAssociate Professor, Sociology, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, North-West Frontier, Pakistan
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Social Networking, Interfaith activities, Harmony, Faith Groups, Peace, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
