Recognised at last

It is a source of great satisfaction for most Pakistanis that Dr Abdul Salam has finally been recognised in Pakistan as our first Nobel Laureate. The naming of Physics Centre at Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad as ‘Dr. Abdul Salam Centre for Physics’ after the name of our great scientist is a much awaited acknowledgement which should have been made much earlier. He was partly acknowledged in 1998, following the nuclear tests, when a commemorative stamp was issued in his name as a part of Scientists of Pakistan, to honour his services. Salam was a major figure in the discipline of theoretical physics when he shared the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contribution in this field. At that time he was not given appropriate recognition in Pakistan, – due to Ziaul Haq’s myopic vision – although Salam received the award as a Pakistani dressed in national attire. He donated all his prize money to establish scholarships for Pakistani student scientists at the University of Trieste. The further incentive being offered to our budding student scientists today is that five annual fellowships for Pakistani students for PhD (physics) have also been approved in reputed international universities. The fellowship program is named as ‘Professor Abdul Salam Fellowship’.

I salute the government of Pakistan and welcome these belated moves to acknowledge the great scientist. Further, I urge the government to encourage and invest in more progress in the field of research and development so that more and more scientists can be produced who will not only serve our country in meeting today’s modern technological challenges but will also earn a name for our country. I propose that Dr. Abdus Salam be posthumously awarded the Nishan-e-Imtiaz at a special ceremony on his birthday or Pakistan Day, where some close member of his family should be invited to receive the award. The state should continuously strive to recognise academic and humanitarian achievements by Pakistanis by conferring awards of excellence on outstanding young men and women.

Nasira Iqbal

Lahore