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PU alumni to work for national development
PU alumni to work for national development


LAHORE: (Saturday, December 8, 2018): The grand ceremony of first ever meeting of former graduates of Punjab University was organized at Faisal Auditorium on Saturday in which the alumni have pledged to contribute for development of the country and play their role to cope with issues being faced by the nation. A large number of politicians, judges, journalists, industrialists, bureaucrats, academicians, scientists and renowned personalities from  all walks of life participated in the event. Former PU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Rafiq Ahmad presided over the ceremony. Dr Mariam Zahoor, who did her MA in Geography from PU in 1948, Allama Iqbal’s daughter in law Justice (r) Nasira Javed Iqbal, Lahore High Court’s Justice Ali Akbar Qureshi, PU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Niaz Ahmad, renowned personalities including Qamar Zamar Kaira, Riaz Fityana, Fareed Ahmad Pracha, Gulam Abbas, Dr Mehdi Hassan, Hafeez Khan, Raghib Naeemi, Mujeeb ur Rehman Shami, Hafeez Ullah Niazi, Salman Ghani, Sajjad Mir, Dr Mujahid Ali Mansoori, Hamid Mir, Touqir Nasir, Asghar Nadeem Syed, Amjad Islam Amjad, Dr Najma Najam, Qazi Afaq, Anwar Rasheed, Dr Shahzad, Rasheed Loon, Shahid Salim Baig, Ishtiaq Ahmad Khan, Dr Mahboob Hussain, G.A. Sabri, Director Alumni Dr Fouzia Hadi Ali and many other prominent personalities participated in the ceremony.

Addressing the ceremony, Qamar Zaman Kaira said that Pakistani nation was facing several political, economical and social challenges. However, he said, those nations who lack wisdom and appropriate ideological and intellectual guidance faced debacle. He said that confusion over national issues was deepening in our society too. He said that the universities must provide guidance to our nation and we need to progress intellectually. He said that student unions had provided leadership to the country and now there was need to practically restore student unions for providing political leadership to the country. PU VC Prof Niaz Ahmed said that the university had produced big names and Allama Muhammad Iqbal, presidents, prime ministers, chief justices of Pakistan, judges of high courts, chief ministers, bureaucrats, industrialists, journalists and a large number of shining personalities in all the fields had been students of Punjab University. He said that PU graduates had played their role in the development of country. He said that PU administration had taken several initiatives to bring PU among top ranked universities of the world by burning the midnight oil. He said that PU administration was ensuring good governance, merit, honesty, justice, modern curriculum, research and development, production of best graduates and the research which would have positive impact on society as well as economy of the country. He said that the university was establishing Institute of Policy Studies in order to provide guidelines in all the fields for national development. He said that PU would also establish medical college and hospital. He said that Pakistan’s future was bright and we must come forward to play role for Pakistan’s development. He said that the next meeting of PU Alumni Association would be held in March 2019. MNA Riaz Fatiana said that the university taught him the art of politics. He said that when he was education minister, he used to serve any person belonging to Punjab University whole heartedly. He said that we were working on 17 sustainable development goals and all the departments of PU should be involved to achieve these goals as PU had the capacity to provide guidance in all the fields.  He said that student unions must be restored so that the crisis of good leadership could be resolved. Farid Ahmad Paracha said that PU was known for Islam and Pakistan and it must prosper. He said that we all should work for the progress of our beloved homeland. Hamid Mir said that he felt that his childhood was back again as he did his first speech in class one at Faisal Auditorium being student of PU Laboratory High School. He said that PU had the most beautiful campus as compared to top universities in the world and there was need to raise our academic standard. He said that if we improved our academic system, we would leave Oxford and Harvard behind as we had the required potential. He said that PU alumni were spread all over the world and he had seen Long Live Pakistan slogan in Palestine. He said that the political tolerance that was being witnessed at Faisal Auditorium must reflect outside of the hall too and all political leaders should sit together for development of the country. He said that PU alumni were a precious treasurer and Prof Niaz Ahmad was contributing to utilize this asset for national development. Mr Ghulam Abbas stressed the need to launch comparative studies program for better understanding of the issues. He said that we should discourage stereotype thinking. Dr Rafiq Ahmad said that conspiracies were being hatched against China Pakistan Economic Corridor and PU Alumni Association must make efforts to counter propaganda. He said that there was abundance of national resources in Pakistan and we must develop capacity to utilize these resources. He said that Old Campus was named Allama Iqbal Campus and New Campus was named Quaid-e-Azam Campus when he took charge as PU VC in 1984. Justice Ali Akbar Qureshi said that it was an honor for him to participate in the meeting of alumni and he would anxiously wait for its next meeting to come here again. Justice (r) Nasira Javed Iqbal said that we were independent because of the teachings of Hazrat Muhammad (SAW).  He said that women were coming forward in all the fields and they should work for country’s development. Dr Mariam Zahoor said that she did MA in Geography with distinctive marks in 1948 and she was the first female PhD of the country. She said that the universities must remain autonomous and teachers must be respected. Hafeez Khan said that it was the first event of its kind in the 136 years history of the university. He said that PU Alumni Association would work for improving ranking of the university and provide technical assistance. Tauqeen Nasir also shared his campus life and praised the environment of the campus. In the ceremony, a certificate amounting Rs 1.9 million was presented to PU VC Prof Niaz Ahmad. The original value of the certificate was 92 thousand in 80s when Mr Muhammad Mahmood Mirza, former graduate of PU, invested in defense savings scheme for PU Alumni Association and as per his will, his son and renowned banker Hamid Mahmood Mirza presented the certificate to the VC on this occasion.