Ground work for PM house varsity complete

Work on establishing a university in the Prime Minister House was about to start as the necessary formalities were completed during the past three years of the government, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Monday.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of academic blocks at the Al Qadir University, the prime minister stressed the need for reviving the culture of the glorious Muslim era to counter the overexposure of the Western culture to the youngsters.

“The prime minister house university would be turned into a top technological institute,” Imran told the ceremony, adding that the work on the university was about to start since necessary formalities had been carried out in the last three-and-a-half years.

Imran Khan called for practicing ‘Ijtehad’ to find out solutions to the emerging challenges in the present-day era and emphasised that strong faith and moral character guided a person to choose the righteous path.

“The era of social media has got today’s youth confused as it provides unhindered access to the Western culture,” Imran told the ceremony. “Since the flow of information cannot be restricted, it is important to offer informed choices to the youth by teaching them how to differentiate between right and wrong.”

Imran said he would encourage an “intellectual and reasoned response” for the nation to avoid any blasphemous incidents against the Prophet (PBUH). He warned that calling someone ‘Kaafir’ over difference of opinion or on religious beliefs was a dangerous trend and needed to be shunned through intellectual debates.

The prime minister mentioned that his government had introduced the singular national curriculum to end the unjustified three parallel education systems – English and Urdu mediums and the madrassas that had been creating ideologically different among the youth of the society.

“The objective of establishing the Rehmatul-lil -Alameen Authority by the government was to promote the message of Islam in a manner that could be understood by a common man,” he said. “Universities have a great role to play in this regard,” he said.

He expressed confidence that Al Qadir University would revive the norms of research and healthy debates. He expressed satisfaction over the pace of Al Qadir University in carrying out academic work in a short span of time.

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The prime minister emphasised the need for conducting research in the golden era of Muslims, when its leaders, scholars and scientists ruled the world. He mentioned that Allama Iqbal’s concept of ‘Shaheen’ (falcon) was related to a determined nation with the courage to break the shackles of mental slavery.

“Pakistan came into being in the name of Islam,” he said, stressing that “real prosperity cannot be achieved without following the teachings” of Holy Prophet (PBUH). “Even today, becoming a great nation requires a strong moral character with belief in truth and social justice and equality for all.”

Imran criticised the previous governments for looting the public money. He said that at a recent event held in Islamabad, “an absconder leader was invited to speak as a chief guest”, which he termed the “height of moral decline”.

“The moral fabric of a nation gets ruined if it stops recognising corruption and dishonesty as evils,” he said, adding that he wanted the nation to attain a “moral renaissance” and raise leaders from within having a high moral character in line with the Prophet (PBUH)’s teachings.

Separately, chairing a meeting to review the current stock and prices of fertilisers in the country, the prime minister was informed that the prices had registered a fall of Rs400 per bag, since his instructions last week for action against hoarders.

The meeting, attended by federal ministers Asad Umar, Khusro Bakhtiar, Syed Fakhar Imam, and Prime Minister’s Adviser on Finance Shaukat Tarin, was also informed that an online portal had been developed to monitor the supply of fertilisers.

It was also informed that control rooms had been established in every district to receive complaints about the fertilizers’ shortage, hoarding and profiteering. The prime minister directed the authorities concerned to continue to take legal action against the elements involved in hoarding and profiteering.

(WITH INPUT FROM APP)