The Sindh government has decided to establish campuses of the Sindh Madressatul Islam (SMI) in Islamabad as well as all the four provincial capitals, and one grand campus of the SMI would be established in the education city in the vicinity of Karachi, Senior Sindh Education and Literacy Minister Pir Mazharul Haq said at the SMI on Saturday.
Haq said that the SMI is a national institution in view of its association with Pakistan’s founder Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and the provincial government shall make every effort to develop it as a befitting memento to the memory of the Quaid-e-Azam.
He said that this premier institution has been devolved to the provincial government following the 18th Constitutional Amendment, and the provincial government has plans for its elevation to the level of university, for which a legislative bill would be moved shortly in the Sindh Assembly.
He also said that the Education Department intends to turn the SMI into a truly national institution with its campuses established in Islamabad as well as all the four provincial capitals, where quality education would be imparted to the future generations of the country.
However, he added, the main campus shall remain in the historic building of the SMI, which shall be restored back to its original grandeur.
He further said that the SMI has a close association with President Asif Ali Zardari as it was established by his great grandfather Khan Bahadur Hassanally Effendi.
“Whenever the president visits the province, he enquires about the SMI because of his close attachment with it,” he added.
Haq said that the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and the late Benazir Bhutto also had personal association with the SMI as Sir Shahnawaz Bhutto had studied here for a long time. It was their dream that the SMI be developed into a distinguished seat of learning, he added.
He said that his grandfather Pir Ilahi Bakhsh had been the president of the SMI’s management board for almost a decade and played his role in elevating it to the level of a college at the hands of the Quaid-e-Azam on June 21, 1943.
He also said that his father and uncles had studied at the SMI as well, and that he would like to contribute every bit for getting it elevated to the level of a university.
He further said that there would be no intervention by any official or politician in the affairs of the SMI and Principal Dr Muhammad Ali Shaikh would be fully authorised to independently run the historic institution.
Haq said that Shaikh has converted the SMI into a modern institution and done a great service not only in raising the standard of education, but also establishing the Fine Arts Gallery, the Jinnah Museum and the Historic Photos Gallery in the institution.
He said that the teachers of the SMI are fortunate as they are serving at a historic institution. “Their problems will be resolved on priority basis,” he added.
