‘Opportunities to benefit from Dr Abdus Salam missed’

LAHORE

Speakers at the Salam Day celebrations at Government College University (GCU) here on Monday said Pakistan missed several great opportunities to benefit from Prof Dr Abdus Salam who worked with great zeal and enthusiasm to bring about a scientific change in the third world countries.

“We missed a rare historical opportunity to establish International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Pakistan (ICTP), but this is not the only one. In fact Pakistan's story is the story of missed opportunities,” said Prof Dr G Murtaza. 

According to a press release, the ceremony was jointly organised by the university's Jones Physics Society, Salam Chair and the Pakistan Physical Society to celebrate the 91st birthday of the Pakistan’s only Nobel Laureate in the field of science.

In his keynote address, Prof G Murtaza said in October 1986, when UNESCO looked for a new Director General, Salam’s name had been floated.

In fact he was almost sure to win the election considering that he was at that time the only person in the world who fulfilled the qualifications for the post, but the Government of Pakistan didn’t recommend his name. In this way Pakistan, and indeed the entire 3rd world lost a unique opportunity to benefit from what Salam had the capacity to achieve for them.

“We also missed another opportunity to benefit from Salam when he offered to donate the whole of his Nobel Prize money of US66,000/- to create a fund for the award of scholarships to Pakistani students of science for higher studies abroad provided the government contributed one million dollars to that fund. Unfortunately the Government of Pakistan did not accept his offer,” said the Professor, Salam Chair.

He urged that the inspiring and fascinating story of Abdus Salam, a story of Pakistani village boy who starts his life from a remote area of Jhang and becomes the towering personality in the world of Physics, must be told to every child in the third world countries.  

“This inspires all the young people with the idea that wherever they may come from in the world, they too can make careers in science or indeed in any other profession at present dominated by the rich countries,” said Prof G Murtaza.

He said that Prof Salam’s achievements were not confined to the Nobel Prize. At the age of 33, he became Fellow of the Royal Society London.

He was the first Pakistani and the first from the Muslim world to achieve that distinction. At the age of 38, Salam became the Director of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) Trieste, Italy in 1964, which he had created himself after a great struggle and against stiff resistance to provide scientists from the third world with opportunities to conduct research and study new developments in physics and mathematics. He said the Centre remains to this day a monument to Salam’s determination.

For his contributions towards peace and promotion of International Science Collaboration, Prof Salam got the Atoms for Peace Medal and Award. He became fellow and member of more than 30 academies/societies of the world and was awarded DSc Honoris Causa by more than 40 universities of the world. There is a long list of his achievements, honours and awards.

Dr Ghulam Murtaza, who was also taught by Dr Salam himself at the Imperial College London, also touched on the humble upbringing, strong character and virtues of the great scientist.

Speaking on the occasion, Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Hassan Amir Shah said it was remarkable how the Italian had owned Prof Salam and honoured him.

He proudly told the students that GCU had the honour of housing the original Nobel Prize Certificate of Dr Abdus Salam saying Prof Dr Katepalli R Sreenivasan, Director of Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Italy, had gifted the original Nobel Prize Certificate of Dr Abdus Salam to his alma mater, the Government College Lahore.

The certificate has been placed in GCU's Naqoosh Museum, where around 5,000 letters written by renowned literary figures of Urdu are also kept.

“A large number of students daily get inspiration from the great achievement of Dr Abdus Salam,” the VC said. Dr Mazhar Hussain also addressed the seminar.

Book fair: A two-day book fair arranged by the National Library of Engineering Sciences started at the University of Engineering and Technology on Monday. 

UET Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Fazal Ahmad Khalid inaugurated the book fair while faculty members and students were present.

The VC said relation between book and student should be strong to explore the new dimensions and areas for research. UET Chief Librarian Dr Ijaz Meraj briefed the audience about the book fair saying more than 30 famous publishers were participating in this event and offering books on discounted price.