Islamabad: — The Pathfinder Group’s flagship initiative, Pathfinder Interfaith Harmony Initiative (PIHI), organized the first meeting of its Advisory Council at AmaaniBagh, Angoori. Brig (Retd) Mujahid Alam, CEO of the Providentia Books Foundation and CEO Designate PIHI, introduced PIHI and highlighted its objectives. The vision is to promote mutual respect. peaceful coexistence, and cooperative action among Pakistan’s religious and spiritual communities. He emphasized that the initiative brings together leaders from diverse faiths, including Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Parsi, and Jewish communities, to promote dialogue and cooperation across religious lines.
The brainchild of 15 years old Elena Sehgal, a student of Brearley Girls School, Manhattan, who has established a similar initiative in New York, the meeting was chaired by her grandfather, Ikram Sehgal, Co-Chairman of Pathfinder Group. Consisting of 6 female and 18 male members, the PIHI Advisory Council is representative of different religions with 9 Christians of different sects, 3 Sikhs, 2 Jews, 2 Hindus, 1 Parsi and 7 Muslims from different sects. Capt (Retd) Babar Bernard Massey, a Christian, will serve as the Secretary to the Advisory Council. The names of the honourable members are as follows: Dr Marc H Siegel (Jewish), Dr Linda Zangwill (Jewish), Subhash Chander (Hindu), Neelum Kumari (Hindu), MNA Isphanyar M Bhandara (Parsi), Sardar Ranjeet Singh (Sikh), Sardar Anoop Singh (Sikh), Manmeet Kaur (Sikh), Asiya Nasir (Christian), Anne Bolyne Rubina (Christian), Dr Zeerak Samuel Christian, Rt Rev Nadeem Kamran (Bishop), Rev Samson Sohail, Father Adnan Ghani, Sarfraz Shahid (Christian), Saleem Shahzad (Christian) and Capt (Retd) Babar Bernard Massey (Christian), the Muslim members included Ms Huma Akhtar Chughtai, Dr Amy (Aisha) Winslow, Syed Firasat Shah, Maj Gen (Retd) Shakeel Hussain, Brig (Retd) SSG Kiani and Brig (Retd) Mujahid Alam.
Most members remarked that it was their first experience in Pakistan to share their views with representatives of such diverse religions under one roof. While appreciating the efforts of Pathfinder Group, MNA Isphanyar Bhandara, CEO of Murree Brewery, urged participants to make conscious efforts to make non-Muslim friends. The PIHI slogan, “Bridging Faiths, Building Harmony,” reminds us that peace is only achievable through building relations amongst different faiths and learning to respectfully coexist like our ancestors.
Sohail Majeed is a Special Correspondent at The Diplomatic Insight. He has twelve plus years of experience in journalism & reporting. He covers International Affairs, Diplomacy, UN, Sports, Climate Change, Economy, Technology, and Health.
