Punjab University. PHOTO: APP
PU Vice Chancellor Dr Zaffar Mueen Nasar, Emeritus Department of Political Science Professor Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi, University of Sargodha former dean Dr Rasheed Ahmed Khan, PSC Acting Director Dr Amjad Abbas Magsi, senior faculty members and students were present on the occasion.
'There is a conspiracy against democracy in Pakistan'
In his address, Dr Zaffar Moeen Nasar threw light on the economic development of Pakistan in the last 70 years. He said that comparison of Pakistan’s economic situation of 1947 and 2017 show a big difference as service and industrial sector was growing. He said that our social sector was being affected by lower spending on development sector.
“We need to improve our social sector-health and education for better development in the country. The 3Ds of economics; Development, Defence and Debt Services must be set in the right order,” he added.
He stressed that we need to set our priorities, make our industrial policies and define our pioneer industries. He said that we need to change our development policies that will be equitable to bring prosperity and nationalism in the country.
He proposed a development model for development which will provide equal opportunities to all which will result in enhancement of solidarity, prosperity and nationalism in the country.
CPEC was a game changer which was bringing great potential for investment in the country, he said. “We have to create stability and a conducive environment for economic vibrancy in the country,” he added.
Dr Hassan Askari Rizvi, in his keynote speech, said that we as a nation have to focus on three aspects. First one was we need to pay tribute to people who sacrificed a lot for the establishment of Pakistan, he said. Secondly we need to examine the achievements of Pakistan in the last 70 years. Despite the roller coaster of democracy and change in government, Pakistan had made a substantial achievement in fields of industry and defense. We need to recognize the deficiencies, difficulties and failures of Pakistan, he added.
The discourse on democracy
As quality of democracy is poor, governance issues and socio-economic injustices were major problems of Pakistan. He stressed upon that it was need of time that youth of our society had to focus on above mentioned problems in more harmonious and participatory manner.
Dr Rashid Ahmed Khan in his keynote speech focused on the future of Pakistani democracy. He said that Pakistan was achieved through democratic struggle. Democracy was therefore in the blood of Pakistan but the people of Pakistan had to wage a very arduous struggle for securing democracy in the country.
This struggle had been a story of intense tussle for power between the democratic and authoritarian forces. Democracy in Pakistan had strengthened over 70 years because of many factors. Some of them were that there was no cold war scenario, no alliance system and globalisation.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 11th, 2017.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ