Beating all odds: Visually impaired professor refuses to lose sight of life

Amir Raja becomes first PhD scholar in organisational level studies.

RAWALPINDI:

Amir Hanif Raja lost his eyesight as a child but never his ambition.

Despite being visually impaired for almost four decades, the college professor has been successful throughout his academic years and was awarded a PhD in comparative studies between the European Union (EU) and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) by the University of Punjab on December 29, 2012, becoming the first PhD scholar in any organisational level studies.

The 39-year-old from Kirpa village, a rural area of Islamabad, was born with sight, but soon after he turned nine months old, his mother began noticing something was wrong. By the age of one, Raja became blind after contracting an incurable disease called retinitis pigmentosa.

But he refused to let anything tie him down.

“Disability does not matter if a person is keen to achieve something in life,” says Raja who is now happily married and father of four.

His academic journey started in 1973 at the Government Kandeel Secondary School, Kohati Bazaar, Rawalpindi, where facilities for blind students were scarce. Mostly, he had to appear in exams, relying on information he had heard from friends. Yet, Raja succeeded in securing first division in his secondary school exam. This encouraged him to pursue higher studies.

He went on to graduate from the Government Degree College Satellite Town, Rawalpindi.

Besides his A grades, Raja remained equally bright in extracurricular activities, winning several awards in declamation contests and poetry competitions.

“The most memorable moment of my life was when my college announced a holiday in 1992 to honour me for winning a gold medal in the Punjab Poetry Competition. Never before in the college’s history was a holiday to honour a student,” he recalls. Raja went on to complete his Masters in History from the Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad in 2006, followed by an MPhil and PhD in 2008 and 2012 respectively from the University of Punjab on a Higher Education Commission scholarship.

He was also recognised outside Pakistan, receiving the honour of “best researcher” at the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, in 2009, during a six-month scholarship in research.

“In the UK, there were a lot of facilities for the blind. I did my research in a research centre which was especially built for the visually impaired,” he said.

In 2011, his final thesis was sent to Turkey and the USA for evaluation and with the approval of his thesis, after which he was awarded the PhD degree.  “Another happy moment of my life was when I received a job offer from the EU,” the professor said.

However, it was not all smooth sailing for the enthusiastic professor. “When I started off my studies, I had to face a lot of criticism but I continued. I have reached the conclusion that in our society if a person proves himself, people start giving him importance and respect,”  he said, adding that the “same happened to me; at least now I am getting respect from others.”

He also recalled how he had to struggle in school, and was unable to get a first division in his secondary school exam because of another student who had to write his paper for him.

Raja started working at the Asghar Mall College as a lecturer some 12 years back after passing the Punjab Service Commission Exam and was later promoted to the post of assistant professor.

In the future, he wants to serve the OIC – the pan-Islamic body which, he hopes, will regain its credibility. He believes the OIC has excellent policies and structure but its workforce is not willing to work. “Every Islamic state has its own agenda and that is a big hurdle in the implementation of a common agenda.” A determined Raja also plans to do his post-doctorate. He, however, complains that he does not receive the encouragement he deserves from the media or the government.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10^th, 2013.