Sajid Ishaq Sandhu: the torch bearer of interfaith peace in Pakistan

Sajid Ishaq Sandhu: the torch bearer of interfaith peace in Pakistan

“The more we sweat in Peace, the less we bleed in War” – was perhaps the proverb that inspired the only son of a family that formed highest echelon of the Christian community in Pakistan, to devote his life for the wellbeing of
marginalized, destitute and poorest of the masses in land of the pure.

At the early years of his youth, while traveling to Philippines to pursue his masters’ degree in business administration from one of the prestigious universities in Manila, many of Sajid Ishaq’s friends and family members might
have envisioned him turning into a successful business entrepreneur, but fewer of them would have thought him of using his business acumen for pulling his countrymen out of the vicious traps of poverty.

Moved by the plight of financially deprived sections of society in Pakistan, and the inter and intra-religious drifts that had left the nation divided, discouraged and hostile, Mr. Sajid, the son of a prominent Christian religious
leader, Bishop Mazhar Ishaq Sandhu, planned to lay the foundation of an organization that would not only help the communities to be financially self reliant, but to be more educated and healthy with an improved sense of civic and citizenship.

Interfaith League against Poverty (I-LAP), established back in 2004, under the chairmanship of Sajid Ishaq, kicked off with an overwhelming mission of creating awareness among citizens about the importance of interfaith harmony,
peace, tolerance and respect for all on the basis of humanity and to develop a sense of belonging among the people.

Not only that, it also envisioned an egalitarian society where people are entitled to equal rights without facing discrimination on the basis of cast creed or religion and where provision of quality education and technical skills
will culminate in creating a financially independent and self reliant society.

And all these efforts were being made to see the creation of a new generation of peace workers, peace defenders and peace negotiators that will strive towards catalyzing positive change in the community for prevention of conflicts
and promotion and sustenance of peace in the multi-ethnic, multi cultural Pakistan.

Under the leadership of its chairman, I-LAP, which, at its start, looked rather a humble initiative to accomplish the uphill task of the formation of the society into a peace loving, tolerant and democratic nation, did not take
longer before turning first into a national and then an international organization with vibrant presence in over 40 districts across four provinces of Pakistan along with international offices in UK and USA.

In mere eight years of its existence, becoming the flagship of peace oriented efforts in Pakistan, the organization has successfully initiated and completed hundreds of projects on economic development, interfaith peace and harmony,
education, technical and vocational education, gender, health, livelihood, disaster response and construction of educational institutions across the country.

As it goes without saying, with greater trust comes greater responsibility, the sheer optimism of Mr. Sajid Ishaq and his tireless and determined hard work has enormously expanded I-LAP’s work on various dimensions within a limited
span of time. This has not only established the organization’s credibility to start and successfully conduct some of the largest development projects in Pakistan, but has also introduced its anchoring leader as one of the prominent social workers of the country
who enjoys an equal repute internationally.

Having the aim to help Pakistan become a true democratic State, he struggles for equal rights for all minorities; access to justice and for the abolishment of all discriminatory laws that discriminate on the basis of religion,
gender or social and financial status. He believes that no one can change the past but the future is in our hands; we can learn from errors made by our elders and rectify them by not repeating the same mistakes, thus making an effort to open our hearts to
positive change in every way.

The wish to see peace in a tangible way led Mr. Sajid to create Pakistan’s first and the world’s 34^th peace museum situated at the head office of his organization in Islamabad. As an acknowledgment of his skills for
the promotion of peace and conflict resolution, he was elected as the Executive Board member of International Network of Peace Museums.

Amid his extraordinary talents and qualities in his capacity as an Interfaith Community Leader, the Chairman I-LAP is believed to be among the top 10 Pakistani Interfaith Community Leaders who possesses abilities to promote interfaith
harmony, peace, tolerance and respect, negotiate deals, analyze problems, and create ideas that will empower people and help integrate them into the social fabric.

One of Sajid Ishaq’s endeavors and a feather in I-LAP’s cap is Peace Handicraft Centers which strive to promote peace through peace symbols. All items prepared at the centers contain symbols depicting peace. He intends to channel
these products to International Communities so as to create awareness regarding the importance of Inter-faith tolerance and respect

Moreover, From the platform of I-LAP, he has the credit for successfully running of Micro Credit Programs focusing specially on needy communities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi districts including the slum areas of Islamabad; training
and capacity building of hundreds of jobless professionals and youth on Career Guidance and Ways to Establish Employment Desk; training of young professionals on Security, Time Management, Work Ethics, Entrepreneurial Development, Quality Education, Community
Development and Participatory Rural Appraisal.

The chairman of Pakistan Interfaith League – a network of over 48 local and national level development organizations and a Co-Chairman of National Baptist Church of Pakistan has been fully acknowledged for his efforts to create
a tolerant and progressive society in Pakistan, and thus, he has been conferred with awards from Ministry of Minority Affairs and National Network of Interfaith and Peace.

Holding memberships of international development organizations like International Development Evaluation Association (IDEAS) United Kingdom and International Program for Development Evaluation Training, Carleton University Ottawa
Canada, Mr. Sajid regularly features local, national and international media. In the presently polarized and dissented Pakistani society, he is truly a torch bearer of interfaith peace and social harmony.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=12022

Posted by Fayyaz Yaseen on Feb 7 2012. Filed under Pakistan, Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry