Asia Society India Centre spoke with Qasim Aslam, part of the Asia 21 Next Generation Class of 2016. Qasim is the founder and CEO of Beyond the Classroom Education, an organisation of educators using technology to go beyond textbooks and transform educational experience for students. He is also the driving force behind the Dialogue Academy, an innovative peace education platform, Project Director at Seeds of Peace, a global nonprofit organisation dedicated to cultivating a new generation of leaders capable of transforming conflict, and is an Acumen Fellow, a leadership program for social entrepreneurs.

In this interview, Qasim takes us through his journey as an educator, inclusivity in Pakistan, his idea of good leadership and more.

Could you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your work? What motivates your work in education and advocacy?

Advocacy - oh, that's a big word. My name is Qasim Aslam. I was born and raised in Lahore. I'm a Pakistani. I have had the privilege of working with many national and other identities from around the world. And I really struggled to see the relationships that Pakistan has as a nation with a fair lot of the other nationalities around the world. I struggled to relate to a lot of narratives that were around. I got the privilege of attending the Seeds of Peace camp when I was fourteen, and being surrounded by students from eight to nine different nationalities, which included Palestine, Israel, India, Afghanistan, Jordan, Egypt, the US, UK. I think that kind of really set the foundation or the benchmark for what a human connection should look like. That is what inspired my work that I do now, what started with Beyond the Classroom: creating spaces for people from different identities, national, religious and others, to come together and connect at a very human level.

What does a more inclusive narrative look like for Pakistan? How do you want to work towards that?

I think the reality of Pakistan has unfortunately been defined by differences and being afraid of anybody who’s different. The fundamental of being able to celebrate all the differences that exist in a particular space, whether that’s within the confines of Pakistan or the confines of a different nation state, or a space which brings multiple national or religious identities together; at the very core of it, that’s what an inclusive space looks like for me.

And I would want that for Pakistan as well. Where people can actually come together and just accept and celebrate that you and I hold different opinions, whether they're religious or national or a different belief. In the spaces where we have differences, that's what requires us to actually find a common ground to be able to move forward. Engaging in a dialogue where we can learn each other's perspective and then find a common ground where we can at least move forward, if not, you know, being able to convince each other to either come to my perspective or theirs, but to be able to move forward using the tool of dialogue. That's the core of what I try to imagine and realise in the spaces that we create for Pakistan and for students in other countries as well.

What, according to you, makes a good leader?

I subscribe to the notion of adaptive leadership pretty significantly. So for me, I think that a leader is fundamentally inextricable from of the group that they're working with. And so in that respect, there isn't one particular person who's exercising leadership.

Leadership for me is a verb as opposed to a person or an individual or noun. So at various points, a group comes together and different individuals or small parts of individuals exercise leadership to take the group forward towards a common goal. At different points in time, you might need somebody who’s a technical expert, who knows the ins and outs of how to get towards move forward towards the common goal of this particular group.

Sometimes, you need somebody who can facilitate a conversation; at that point, the technical expert takes the back seat and this facilitator takes the front seat in helping the group share their opinions, find the next step forward and so on and so forth. At different points, different things are the need of the hour and a different person takes up the mantle of leadership. So no particular definite goals, but would love for people to understand the notion of adaptive leadership and then exercise leadership at different points to take a group forward.

Considering the intricacies of South Asian culture and experience, there is a gap in the available conventional wisdom on leadership and problem solving. It can be a challenge to adopt conventional ideas to work through situations that are in need of culturally specific solutions. As a leader, what has your experience been when addressing these complications?

Building off of what I said earlier in the previous response: I think for starters, different people who bring in different cultural sensitivities to a space, it's important to (a) create a space where everyone is without any fear of retribution or any subjugation or any bias, are in a safe environment, able to share with the rest of the group what their cultural sensitivities are, what their non-negotiables are and what they bring to the table as an identity. So I think the precursor is to create this environment. The second bit is education, whether that’s about the cultural sensitivities that permeate a particular space, which includes each and every identity that is present or education around this notion of how we need to celebrate the differences, even when sometimes they might be contradictory.

Inviting everyone to the core notion that our individual survival is very much linked to us being tolerant to all the various differences that exist in a particular space, and vice versa. And then educating everyone else around that our collective survival is linked to us being able to tolerate all the various differences and celebrate all the various beautiful and aesthetic realities that each identity brings to this particular space. The more we learn about it, the more we learn to celebrate how those human beings exist.

There might be some things that we might be able to adopt from those cultures, if at all. And if nothing else, then appreciate from a distance that this is what exists in that particular culture. And then kind of inviting everyone to this core notion again and again that our collective survival and how our respective individuality or collective or identity or community survival, as well as their ability to thrive, is inextricably linked to everyone's ability to do the same and extend everyone the same courtesy.

So this constant process of getting more and more allies to be able to do this very notion, this very process; exercise and hold this process for each other, as well as for themselves, as well as to continue to address these values. That remains at the very core of the practice, whether that’s within our company or whether that’s the spaces that we create.

Given that mentorship is a significant part of the Asia 21 fellowship, how do you think it has contributed to your development as a leader? And how do you feel about mentoring aspiring younger leaders?

The one fantastic thing that Asia 21 brings is the network. Whether it's Pakistan or a different country or some of the retreats that I've attended in different parts of the world. At the very core of it is, is how people are so responsive to an outreach, like anybody who reaches out to anybody, whether it's for mentorship connection or opening a door. People are just welcoming as soon as you identify yourself as one of the Asia 21 members. People are more than willing to go the extra mile to solve your problem, to guide you, to consult. That's one thing that I've always valued and tried to give back as well. At any time somebody's reached out, I would try and make time or open doors or make introductions, whatever is in my capacity at that point in time.

So in that respect, lots of respect to the network for being there and respect to whoever's picking the fellows every year, because the sort of individuals they continue to bring in definitely makes the network what it is. If in any case, anyone needs anything–whether it's a two minute conversation, or a longer brainstorm session about something that they're doing or any introduction that I can facilitate, I'm more than happy to make time and space and offer my network and resources.

Who are some Asia 21 fellows from your own cohort or otherwise whose leadership and work consistently inspires you? 

Dr. Mohsin Ali Mustafa comes to mind immediately with his work in the health care industries, working with the Aga Khan Foundation at present and all the initiatives that he's taken in the past. Also, I believe he started a school health program as well, where he was educating students about cleanliness, etc. Mohsin is one person that inspires me and he's one of my advisors as well. He's my first go to phone calls every time I want to strategise about a new initiative or a work problem, or even a personal problem for that matter.

In addition, Yusra Askari, she's been a great connector. Every time I've needed a connection to anybody, she's the first person to go to. And then obviously she's full of energy as well. I mean, that's very inspiring. Every time you reach out to her, she's always, always kind of willing to connect with people. Her work with the media, NDTV, she's been a correspondent for NDTV for a very long time, especially being based out of Pakistan and being a correspondent for NDTV. That itself is quite impressive.

These are two names that pretty immediately come to mind. There is also Satchit Balsari from India. His work too. We've connected a couple of times, once in Seoul and I admire his work and all that he did through COVID as well, in terms of research and so much more. I think these are three of the many names that come to mind.

Links to Qasim's work:

• Find Qasim on LinkedIn
• Beyond the Classroom Education (Find them on Instagram and LinkedIn)
• Seeds of Peace (Find them on Instagram and LinkedIn)