On October 4th, 2025, at 11:00 AM CET, the webinar “Transcending the Borders: An Interdisciplinary Analysis on the Indo-Pakistani Conflict in a Peace Construction Perspective” was held online via Zoom.
By Federica De Luca
The event was part of a series of initiatives promoted by Energia per i Diritti Umani in celebration of the International Day of Nonviolence, observed on October 2nd. Within this context, it became both appropriate and necessary to create a space for discussion aimed at shedding light on one of the most geopolitically overlooked conflicts: the Indo-Pakistani dispute. Although the international community intervened during the recent escalation in May 2025, the root of the problem remains unsolved and has yet to receive significant attention from global public opinion.
For this reason, organizing a webinar to explore the issue from an academic perspective—with the involvement of universities and student networks from the two countries at the heart of the discussion—represented an important opportunity to stimulate critical thinking within civil society. In particular, the engagement of young people, nurtured by the educational environment and enriched through pluralistic dialogue, stands as a powerful engine for future social transformation.
The event brought together more than 100 participants of Indian, Pakistani, Italian, Icelandic, French, Spanish, Nepali, Argentine, and Canadian origin. Invited speakers included Prof. Irshad
Ahmad Mughal, visiting professor at the University of the Punjab in Lahore, Pakistan; Prof. Syed Khawaja Alqama, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Minhaj University in Lahore, Pakistan; Sudhir Gandrota, a veteran Indian activist in the Humanist Movement for over 45 years, based in Delhi.
What unites these three speakers is their daily engagement with civil society: Prof. Alqama and Prof. Ahmad through teaching, and Sudhir Gandrota through promoting social dialogue at both local and national levels.
Unsurprisingly, the seminar aimed to move away from the dominant and often politicized narratives surrounding a conflict that has long been neglected in the global geopolitical arena. Instead, it focused on an interdisciplinary approach addressing two key aspects:
- The complexity of the conflict and the need to examine it from multiple angles—social, political, economic, environmental, and narrative—using a holistic framework to uncover concrete solutions to a deeply rooted issue embedded in the historical and social consciousness of both Indian and Pakistani peoples.
- The fundamental role of cultural and spiritual-religious sensitivity in managing divergence through the development of new relational attitudes aimed at eradicating violence.
I moderated the discussion as an EDU volunteer and member of the delegation for the Third World March for Peace and Nonviolence in Pakistan. After a brief contextual introduction and speaker presentations, the discussion began with a joint intervention by Ahmad and Gandrota. Their dialogue explored the Indo-Pakistani conflict in depth, examining all its dimensions—social, political, economic, environmental, and narrative.
Their exchange underscored the importance of bottom-up cooperation aimed at dismantling prejudices and fostering collaboration between the two peoples, who share a great deal in both cultural and territorial terms.
It is essential to remember that the division between India and Pakistan was a direct outcome of British colonialism. In a brutally simplistic approach, borders were drawn based on religious identity—Hindu or Muslim—resulting in a massive, violent migration, countless deaths, and the emergence of collective trauma passed down through generations. This, in turn, deepened divisions and hostility, with religion being misused as the supposed root cause of the conflict.
At the end of the round table discussion, Prof. Alqama focused on the religious perspective. His speech analyzed the paradigm derived from the Charter of Medina of 622 AD, a model that established the principles of coexistence with a view to preserving each identity and building peace. The argument demonstrated how religion as such, free from interpretative manipulation and exploitation, has always encouraged unity and the appreciation of differences and cannot therefore be used instrumentally as a basis for conflict.
The discussion was highly participatory, especially among university students, academics, and activists from both countries, in a climate of mutual listening, sharing, and a collective desire to begin co-designing a grassroots movement that addresses these issues. The hope is to find lasting solutions and shift the paradigm from destructive dynamics that have dominated the conflict for over seventy years.
Amid this atmosphere of hope, India and Pakistan finally met—transcending the physical borders that have long separated them. In a world where borders are seen as limits, as spaces to be blocked or demonized—where the “inside-outside” dichotomy breeds the horror of “us versus them”—reimagining borders as spaces for reflection, dialogue, and co-construction became a necessary act of resistance. It allowed for a rediscovery of the Human essence and laid the foundation for building bridges of social dialogue.
Ultimately, the greatest legacy of Saturday, October 4th, is precisely this: the manifestation of peace through the intentional effort of dialogue—through the luminous attempt of those who, in the face of someone once painted as an enemy, choose instead to recognize the face of a fellow Human Being.
Federica De Luca: Born in 1991 in Florence (Italy). With a degree in Law and a PhD in Personal Development and Labor Market Studies, she has been part of the Humanist Movement since 2017 and a volunteer for Energia per i Diritti Umani since September 2023. She has traveled to Senegal, India, and Pakistan for humanitarian purposes. She currently works as a Human Resources Specialist.
