“A woman is a full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture, and transform. “ (Diane Mariechild)
Yes, it is very rightly said as there is a resolute personality who is leading the Sabaoon Rehabilitation Center with her team members and doing all this. This is Dr. Feriha Peracha, who has done so much hard work for the development of the youth in Pakistan who were radicalized by the Taliban. She is a reputable psychologist who is also the director of the Sabaoon project, which is working for the deradicalization and rehabilitation of the children who were used by the Taliban in KPK.
Dr. Feriha Peracha is a truly persistent, empowered, and astute personality who has accomplished seemingly impossible tasks through the project because it is difficult to teach the youth in the right direction, but it appears to be an uphill task to change their mindset, views, and thinking process after being brainwashed by destructive radicalism. But she has been doing it so successfully for many years.
Historically, it all started in the 1970s and 1980s when radicalism in Pakistan emerged as a result of some wars and conflicts that created a destructive environment later in Pakistan. After 9/11, it became a disaster for a country like Pakistan, where religion has been the most important thing.
This wave of radicalism proved to be a dangerous threat to the nation, especially for young children and the youth of the tribal areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. For the youth, violent extremism is extremely difficult to swallow because it is subpar and unpleasant for them. The young people were brainwashed and used by destructive radicalism in order to achieve the objective through violence, suicide bombs, and mini-wars. In this case, religion has been used for its own purposes.
That is why, Pakistan is sometimes called a terrorist country, so there is an urgent need to show the true face of Pakistan.
Because Dr. Feriha’s best example proves that we do not make terrorists and extremists but teach the brainwashed people to make them rational, peaceful citizens and role models by nurturing and guiding them through the rehabilitation and deradicalization programs. If some opposing forces act negatively, then we will destroy the fortress of these forces by teaching the youth in the right direction. There is also a need to teach people to think and to spread the true teachings of Islam because Islam itself is a rational and secular religion.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) proved this on many occasions in which he did not make decisions on emotional grounds but with rationality.
For example, when some soldiers were taken prisoner by the Prophet’s army in a battle, the Holy Prophet (SAW) did not kill them but asked them to teach his companions to read and write, and they would be freed. That is, fourteen hundred years ago today, someone asked non-Muslims to teach Muslims. There was no better example of secularism and rationality in that age of ignorance.
In the same way, Dr. Feriha Peracha thinks that Islam teaches love and peace. It frees the bird of mind and heart from the cage of ignorance and extremism, allowing it to enjoy true liberty, which is all about freedom of thought.
So, our society and nation need competent and enlightened teachers, leaders, and mentors like Dr. Feriha, whose efforts can broaden and rationalize the thinking of the nation. By doing so, the country will be educated and society will be peaceful and sustainable. And that success depends on following Dr. Feriha’s remarkable efforts.
It is also very necessary to talk about psychology, as the key figure in this project is a prominent psychologist. Personally, I think that psychology is very essential for any society, and it is indispensable for a conservative and parochial country like Pakistan. It is very important to nurture the minds of the younger generation with rationality, logic, reasoning, and enlightenment. This is possible only when the future of the children and youth will be in the hands of aspiring people like Dr. Feriha Peracha, who has been doing the hardest things right now because it is very complicated and difficult to not only change a person’s behavior, thinking, and emotions, but to show them the right path. She gives importance to critical thinking and encourages the younger children to ask questions. Critical thinking will not let them follow anything blindly, but it will encourage them to ask questions to know what is best for them.
Sometimes I talk about the rational revolution in Pakistan, and for that purpose, I believe that psychologists are the best people to guide my nation, which has paid the price of radicalism and extremism for so many years. Pakistan needs more psychologists than motivational speakers because they seem more rational and less emotional. The government of Pakistan needs to organize the PYD (Positive Youth Development) programmes and needs to work efficiently and effectively on child psychology. The Positive Youth Development Programme and Child Psychology is a need of an hour for the youth and younger children of Pakistan under the shadows of inspiring psychologists and mentors like Dr. Feriha Peracha.
I even think that the government must take steps to make psychology a compulsory subject from class 5th to class 10th in Pakistan because it is the most important subject for the development of society, children, and youth. It will guide them to think positively and rationally, and they will not be affected by any extremism so easily. It is also equally important for the future of the nation.
Conclusively, the credit for this impressive step toward deradicalization goes to Dr. Feriha Peracha, her team, and the Pakistan Army. It was a very dangerous and long journey because there was always a threatening situation because of the past and the effects of radicalism, but Dr. Feriha stood strong and firmly for the betterment of the nation. She faced some critical situations, but at last, she did it with pride. Realistically speaking, she is the one who could be called an empowered and brave woman in Pakistan. As it is said by Maya Angelou:
“I am a woman phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, that’s me. “
She is really a phenomenal woman. Pakistan as a whole should be proud of her because she has worked tirelessly to develop the future of the nation by protecting the younger children from the cruel hands of extremist radicals.
