LAHORE: Only those nations achieve socio-economic superiority which devote their time and energy for utilisation of knowledge through education and research, Punjab University (PU) Vice Chancellor Dr Mujahid Kamran said on Thursday.
He made these remarks while addressing the book launching ceremony of PU Pro-VC Dr Jamil Anwar Chaudhry’s “Atom Bomb-Tasawar Say Haqeeqat Tak” at the Undergraduate Block, New Campus. Punjab Education Foundation Chairman Raja Muhammad Anwar, former PU VCs Dr Rafiq Ahmed and Khairat Ibne Rasa, Professor Emeritus Khawaja Muhammad Zikriya and renowned columnists Attaul Haq Qasmi and Amjad Islam Amjad were also present.
Dr Kamran said that creation of the atom bomb had raised the possibility of mankind’s annihilation from earth. Keeping in view the US strategy in Afghanistan and Iraq, the likelihood of an atomic war could not be ruled out, the PU VC said. He informed the audience that the number of children born in Falluja, Iraq with cancer like fatal diseases were four times greater than children born in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan after dropping of the atomic bomb in August 1945.
Dr Kamran urged the Muslim World to raise it voice against US atrocities in Afghanistan and Iraq. The PU VC said that for attaining a place in the comity of developed nations, the government needed to allocate four percent of the GDP for the education sector. He said that the US spends the highest amount of budgetary allocation on education and research purposes.
Dr Kamran told the audience that Muslims had made outstanding strides in education and research from 750 to 1100 AD. The PU VC said that the varsity administration had started uploading the title pages of numerous books written by PU faculty members on the varsity’s website. He said that the varsity had decided to publish low cost editions of famous books through the PU’s printing press, which would enable students to purchase a book at Rs 50 instead of Rs 400 from the market.
Former finance minister Sartaj Aziz stressed upon the need for undertaking a comparative study of all scientific innovations for evaluating the discoveries which had promoted human welfare and which had paved the way for mankind’s destruction. He said that according to an estimate, the scientific knowledge discovered in the last 2,000 years would double in the next decade.
The former finance minister urged educationists to attain maximum benefit from the emerging scientific and nuclear advancements for bringing an agrarian and industrial revolution in the country. Dr Anwar observed that a super power such as the US, after scientific research of several years, could make only three nuclear bombs while Pakistan single-handedly made several atomic bombs, which was a great practice.
Qasmi lamented that one of Pakistan’s generals surrendered to one telephone call from the US. Amjad urged academic experts to achieve excellence in scientific and other academic disciplines.
