The youth of the Government College University (GCU) Lahore youth on Tuesday passed a resolution after a heated debate that Pakistan ought to break the begging bowl and embark on the journey of self-reliance culminating in economic sovereignty. It transpired at the seminar where Punjab Chief Minister Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif presided over the debate on “Economic Sovereignty and Self-reliance” and candidly responded to a number of question put to him by the Ravians.
Members of the Punjab Cabinet and Punjab Assembly were also present on the occasion. The GCU students argued about the dire need and viability of self-reliance in connection with Pakistan’s current economic landscape in the backdrop of national security situation and multi-faceted challenges. Opening the debate, Zeenia Mansoor, a BSc (Honors) student in Biotechnology, drew the audience’s attention to the vast economic potential of Pakistan in minerals, agriculture, live stock, dairy and above all human resource.
Looking at the negative side of the motion, Kamran Hussain Hashmi, a student of intermediate, opined that sovereignty – economic and political – could only be safeguarded through across the board accountability so that foreign loans could be rightly utilized for national uplift and paid back within the stipulated time. The center point of his debate was that a knife is not harmful per say. Rather, it was the peculiar use that labeled it as good or bad. The most vociferous defense of economic self-reliance came from Saadul Hassan, a student of BA (Hons) in English literature. He came down heavily on the political elite who put the nation’s destiny in jeopardy in return for their vested interests.
He chided the decision makers who held reins of this country for the last 63 years for having proved to be a modern-day Faustus who sell their souls to the Devil for the sake of power and vanity. He deplored the fate of every new-born Pakistani baby who inherited a debt of Rs 30,000 at the time of his/her birth – a gift from the ruling class. Concluding the debate Noorus Saba, a student of BSc (Hons) in Chemistry, stressed the need to strengthen the mechanism of accountability so that the plunderers could be brought to the book. She believed that there was no harm if countries helped each other. The need was to ensure the right utilisation of foreign debts.
Addressing the occasion, GCU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Ikramul Haq recalled that all the great socio-political movements were initiated or spearheaded by the Ravians. “Likewise, the movement for economic self-reliance has been ignited by an old Ravain from the GCU podium,” he added.The speakers interspersed their discourse with emotionally charged verses by Mirza Ghalib, Allama Muhammad Iqbal and Habib Jalib. The Nazir Ahmed Music Society played Kalam-e-Iqbal and inspirational national songs at the occasion.
