FAISALABAD City News

UAF VC links progress to heritage preservation
Says Old Campus to be converted into museum
From Our Correspondent
FAISALABAD: The University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) will convert its Old Campus into a museum to preserve the glory of the century-old building, said varsity Vice-Chancellor Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan.
Talking to a delegation of the Asian Study Group led by its president Shereen Masoud at the UAF Syndicate Hall on Saturday, the vice-chancellor said that the Old Campus, the then Punjab Agricultural College and Research Institute, had been established in 1906. In 1961, it was elevated to the status of university, he added. He said that a nation could not progress in true sense unless it preserved its heritage. He said that the UAF was the oldest agricultural educational institute in the subcontinent. He said that that the agriculture was directly linked to the poverty alleviation. The 70 per cent of the population was linked with the sector, he added. He said that the uplift of the rural areas was the need of hour to curtail massive migration to the cities.
A century ago, three markets had been established - Sargodha (then Shahpur), Faisalabad (then Lyallpur) and Sahiwal (then Montgomery). New markets on the same pattern in different parts of the country were imperative to meet the demands of local inhabitants, he added. He said that 92 per cent of the farming community were small farmers. He said that tangible steps were needed to disseminate the modern agri practices and to address their problems.
Shereen Masoud said that the Asian Study Group was actively working on the preservation of heritage. She was of the view that Pakistan was rich in its cultural heritage, spanning centuries with eclectic architecture from the Mughal era and others dating back to BC era. She said that a nation was identified by its culture, traditions and heritage.
OBITUARY: University of Agriculture Faisalabad former vice-chancellor Dr Abdur Rehman died here on Saturday.
He was 85. His funeral prayer was held at Zainab Mosque, Mohammadia Colony. A large number of people, including UAF Vice-Chancellor Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan, former vice-chancellors Dr Bashir Ahmad and Dr Ahmad Nadeem Sheri and Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi former vice-chancellor Dr Khalid Mehmood Khan, attended his funeral prayer.