ISLAMABAD: Scholars from four continents congregated at the International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) to critically examine whether decoloniality, as it is currently practiced in academic institutions, has become the very construct it aimed to dismantle.

According to International Islamic University Islamabad, the two-day event, titled "Caliban Speaks: International Conference on Recentring Indigenous Thought in the Age of Decolonialism and Technology," was organized by IIUI's Department of English with support from the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. The conference attracted academics, educators, and intellectuals from Australia, South Africa, Oman, and various regions of Pakistan to the Allama Iqbal Auditorium at the Faisal Campus. The hybrid format of the conference featured four keynote addresses, eight parallel sessions, and two panel discussions, extending the dialogue beyond the auditorium's confines.

The event drew its title from Caliban, a character symbolizing colonial oppression in Shakespeare's "The Tempest." Prof. Dr. Najeeba Arif, Chairperson of the Pakistan Academy of Letters and the event's Chief Guest, highlighted this theme in her opening address, emphasizing the importance of expression as an assertion of existence. She cautioned that technological control represents a modern form of colonial suppression. IIUI President Prof. Dr. Ahmed Saad Alahmed, through a message delivered by Dr. Muhammad Sheeraz Dasti, stressed that universities should foster diverse cultural and intellectual traditions without marginalizing voices. Dr. Humaira Ashfaq echoed this sentiment, underscoring the need for academia to critically reshape knowledge rather than merely transmit it.

Conference convener Dr. Asma Mansoor discussed her motivation for organizing the event, citing a discomfort with how decoloniality has been reduced to a rhetorical exercise in Pakistan's academic culture. She emphasized the need for theory to serve as praxis rather than mere performance, pointing to IIUI's own underutilized intellectual resources. She also noted the complexities of AI systems, which are intertwined with capitalism and epistemic extraction.

Co-convener Dr. Saiyma Aslam addressed students, questioning what it means to be truly heard. She asserted that universities should be spaces for new voices to emerge and carry the responsibility of using their voices wisely.

The conference included keynote addresses covering a range of topics. Dr. Sayan Dey of Bayan College, Oman, discussed decolonization as potential propaganda, while Prof. Dr. Aroosa Kanwal of Quaid-i-Azam University explored the connections between Islamic fantasy and decolonial imagination. Dr. Ahmar Mahboob of the University of Sydney examined subaltern practice and World Englishes politics, and Dr. Veeran Naicker of Stellenbosch University provided an analysis of racial epistemologies and truth construction.

Parallel sessions spanned diverse subjects, including climate narratives, indigenous language revitalization via AI, algorithmic coloniality in engineering education, Urdu aesthetics, and data sovereignty. The conference is set to conclude on Wednesday with a series of recommendations.