China has proved population is not liability, says Khalid Maqbool

HYDERABAD: China has shown us that population is not a liability as it can be turned into an asset.

Federal Minister for Education and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) chief Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said this on Saturday as he attended as the chief guest a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signing ceremony held at the Hyderabad Institute of Technology and Management Sciences.

The MoU was signed between the institute and Chinese company Thang International to promote employment opportunities and technical skill development among students, particularly through Chinese expertise.

Addressing the ceremony, the federal minister expressed his joy over what he called the realisation of a dream, noting that Hyderabad was once Pakistan’s third-largest city, and if census data were accurately recorded, it still held a strong demographic position.

He lamented the historical neglect of Hyderabad, stating that we must tell the people of Pakistan what the people of Hyderabad had endured.

Establishing a university in Hyderabad after 70 years was nothing short of a crime, he remarked as he recalled past political opposition to a university in Hyderabad, referring to a former provincial education minister who once said that a university in Hyderabad would be built over his dead body.

Dr Siddiqui emphasised that the success of the university was linked with the progress of the entire country.

He expressed the hope that more universities would be established in Hyderabad.

He said the MQM-P wanted a campus of the NED University to be opened in Hyderabad, but the chief minister chose to establish one in Umerkot instead.

Addressing the impact of technological change, the federal minister stated that technology had evolved beyond outdated systems like quotas. Everything was now in mobile phones, including banks and even future governance, he remarked.

Dr Siddiqui said that over 100 of the world’s top companies had removed the requirement for degrees and not even today’s top AI experts could predict what the world would look like 30 years from now.

He encouraged the parents to send their children abroad to learn and return to contribute to Pakistan’s progress. Only the descendants of those who built this country could truly run it, he added.

The MQM-P chief opposed rolling back the 18th Amendment but advocated for its full implementation. With a growing population, we must also increase the number of provinces.

The right to form new provinces should lie with the federal government and the National Assembly, and we would bring an amendment to that effect, he concluded.