PESHAWAR, Oct 10: Scholars, including some from Indonesia, at a discussion here on Thursday said the youth could play a vital role to help their countries become truly democratic and progressive societies.

According to them, democracy and democratic values are taking root in various Muslim countries but the challenges to become modern secular states still need to be dealt with shared experiences and understanding about the modern democracy based on the notion of equal citizenry.

These scholars said this during interactions with students and teachers of University of Peshawar on `State, Religion and Democracy`, says a news release issued here.

These interactions were part of a series of discussions with Pakistani intelligentsia, aca-demia and civil society on various contemporary issues facilitated by Heinrich Boll Stiftung (HBS) and Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), Islamabad. On the occasion, Ms Julia Indiati Suryakusuma, noted intellectual and writer from Indonesia, said despite many efforts by hardliners to change the discourse of Indonesian state, the people had shown a remarkable commitment with diversity and modern democratic values.

She said the people in general were aware of the consequence of such efforts and thus, raising their voice for the strengthening of democracy in the country.

Lecturer of education at the University of Muhammadiyah, Jakarta, Dr Izza Rohman said several Islamic organisations in Indonesia were venturing in the areas of education and philanthropy quite successfully but the chances of theiremerging as major political force were not that conducive due to the rich cultural diversity of the country.

Toaha Qureshi, scholar from United Kingdom, shared the experiences of Muslim community living in UK, especially to integrate them in the society and to create social cohesion in the broader terms.

Dr Qibla Ayaz, eminent scholar from Peshawar said there were no two opinions that only democracy could resolve contemporary issues.

Dr Rasool Jan, Vice Chancellor at University of Peshawar, elaborated different aspects of democracy and the role of youth to promote peace and tolerance in the society.

Earlier, CRSS Executive Director Imtiaz Gul underlined the feature of a modern democracy and said mixing religion with politics had always proved to be disaster for the governance system of any country.