The 1965 lectures

It was March 1965. While Pakistan television had started limited transmissions a year earlier, radio remained the dominant mode of public broadcasting. Radio Pakistan’s Iqbal memorial lectures were broadcasted across the country. A soft-spoken man talked about the quest of finding answers to nature’s greatest mysteries. His lectures were in English, punctuated with references to scripture, history, philosophy, and poetry. There were no graphics, no screens, and no visual aids. Yet, the man spoke with the clarity of a kind teacher, taking time to explain every concept, and choosing examples that were clear and relatable – that man was Dr. Abdus Salam.

The lectures, available on YouTube (in a channel called audio archives of Lutfullah Khan), are a treat for anyone who wants to hear words of wisdom and deep self-reflection from a person of extraordinary intelligence. Yet, as I listen to them again and again, I am troubled by all that has been lost since. Though Dr. Salam died nearly a quarter century ago, his lectures would not be broadcasted today on national public platforms. He remains our foremost scholar in science, yet, talking about him publicly brings the vilest emotions among many. Our textbooks of science, that go to great lengths about celebrating the illustrious history of Muslim scientists of centuries ago, remain silent about Dr. Salam who changed our most basic understanding of fundamental particles and the forces between them in the last century.

But it is not just our societal intolerance that I am reminded of while listening to the lectures. I am also troubled by our collective interest in scholarship, science, research, and public awareness of science. For a theoretical physicist to give Iqbal memorial lectures, and that too on a national broadcasting platform, speaks of different sensibilities of the society. I am not arguing that somehow the 1960s were a heavenly period; we know very well that dictatorship, xenophobia against Bengalis, a personality cult, political corruption, and violent suppression of dissenting voices were state-supported and state-sanctioned. Instead, I am arguing that there was a time when there was both an interest and an appetite to hear scholars talk about their research and there was more to broadcasting than bizarre conspiracy theories, anti-science propaganda and venom-filled discourse. There was a time when people could share their research and their thoughts, reflect deeply on the course of science, recognise their own inherent limitations, and do so with a tremendous sense of humility. All of that is lost now. Now any discourse allowed by the public system must pass through the filter of narrow ideologies. That filter is exactly what a vibrant and inclusive society does not need.

Dr. Salam’s lectures are not just a lesson in the history of science or the science of symmetry. They are also an opportunity to reflect on where we could have been, and where we are headed. At the beginning of the first lecture, Dr. Salam spoke about his hope. He argued that history tells us that great artists and philosophers do not appear in a vacuum. Great strides in science accompany greatness in literature, philosophy, and the arts. He gave the example of Ferdowsi, the great Persian poet, whose masterpieces were written a mere twenty years before the great works of Ibn Sina, Al-Biruni and many others. Dr. Salam postulated that similar to the events in the 11th century, a great Islamic science renaissance, and that too in Pakistan, was hopefully just around the corner with Iqbal being the flagbearer of extraordinary contributions in philosophy and literature. We now know that no such renaissance in science occurred or is likely to occur anytime soon. But that should give us pause and make us think. Was Dr. Salam being overly optimistic, and that he and Iqbal were outliers, or did we as a society through our behaviours, attitudes and worldview ensured that there will not be any Ibn Sina or Al-Biruni to accompany our Ferdowsi?

Published in The Express Tribune, August 9^th, 2022.

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