Showing some gratitude to our Nobel laureates

Karachi
The Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST) on Saturday was the venue of a sentimental tribute to the two Nobel laureates Pakistan has produced, Malala Yousufzai and the late Dr Abdus Salam.
Social activist Mehnaz Rehman recalled her meeting Dr Salam in Beijing on September 1, 1987, and the subsequent interview.
In that dialogue, Dr Salam, who had done the country proud by winning the prize for his Salam-Weinberg theory of gravitational force in November 1979, lamented the step-motherly treatment to scientific research and technology in the South and categorically stated that the science gap between the two halves of the world could only be overcome by producing research scientists.
She quoted part of Dr Salam’s interview wherein he had said, “When Tagore won the Nobel prize, he lived in his own native India and built an institution as elaborate as the Shantinaketan but for me there’s no place in my own Pakistan.”
The Nobel laureate’s comments gave a vivid idea of the way people in this set-up are victimised on the basis of personal likes and dislikes, utterly regardless of their milestone achievements and their contribution to the glory of their motherland.
Mehnaz quoted Dr Salam as having said that there was lots of talk about giving a fillip to science and technology in Pakistan but without any practical steps. In India, on the contrary, according to Salam, lots of importance was being accorded science and technology with very encouraging results. Developing countries, she quoted Dr Salam as having said, were spending less than 0.2 percent of their GDPs on science and technology.
Videos of various events featuring Dr Salam were also screened, and a video of his two sons living in the UK giving an interview was showed wherein they say that they would not like to move to Pakistan because of lack of security on account of their religious affiliations.
Later, videos of Malala Yousufzai’s messages to the nation were screened wherein she thanks the people of her motherland for their respect and hearty admiration.
In her messages, she highlighted the indispensable need for education for the nation to progress.
“Every child in Pakistan must have access to free education. We all must unite to combat the forces of obscurantism and bigotry that is hindering the emancipation of poor society,” Malala asserted most forcefully. She highlighted the Malala Scholarship Fund which will finance the education of the underprivileged children.
Kainaat Soomro, the seventh class student who was subjected to highly unbecoming treatment at the hands of goons, narrated the telephone call from Malala asking her to join her at the Nobel Prize presentation celebrations. She said that Malala financed her trip and she was overcome with emotion while narrating the trip.
Nafisa Shah said that Pakistan’s narrative was not just countering the terrorists but of fighting obscurantism. “Madrassas should be totally disassociated from Jihadist ideology. We should not let education fall victim to militancy,” she said.
Later, Sheema Kermani presented rhythmic dance movements to the accompaniment of Rabindranath Tagore’s, “Where the mind is without fear”, which was followed by a ballet by her pupils, most brilliantly choreographed by Sheema herself. It was a brilliant and poignant performance.