‘Religion has emerged as a force to counter Western politics’

Karachi
Religion has emerged as a force to counter the secular political systems of the West. It has played a key role in political systems of Latin America and Eastern Europe and has become a force to be reckoned with and in the current era it is hard to ignore its influence on politics of the West.
These views were expressed by Prof Dr Newton Jeff, a professor of political science at Austin University, US, while speaking at an international conference titled “The process of democratisation in Pakistan” organised by the department of political science at the Karachi University (KU) on Tuesday.
Another speaker Prof Charles Timothy Spracklen of the University of Abardeen, UK, termed research to be of utmost importance for Pakistan and its people.
He said universities and research institutes should involve the civil society for the upbringing and growth of people.
The chief guest of the program was former vice chancellor of KU, Prof Dr Peerzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui, who is now the vice chancellor of Ziauddin University. He said there was a need to inculcate an analytic mindset among students. He regretted that the government never consulted academia or scholars while formulating government policies. Karachi University’s acting vice chancellor, Prof Dr Ghazala H Rizwani, said there was a dire need for resolving the social and political issues of the country and it was only possible by ensuring quality education.
She believed the role of political institutions was pivotal in the resolution of political, social and economic problems of the society.
In his welcome address, the chairman of political science department and member of the KU syndicate, Prof Dr M Ahmed Qadri, said this conference would be an academic landmark for students of political science.
Also speaking on the occasion, principal secretary to the Sindh governor Muhammad Hussain Syed said the local government budget of Karachi was not at par with other metropolitan cities such as Istanbul, Dubai, Seoul and Singapore.
He said the lack of elected representatives on the local level was one of the major causes of Karachi’s backwardness in various areas. “Overlapping laws and authorities creates a sense of distress among local and provincial authorities which consequently hurts public interest,” he said.
Justice (retd) Zafar Iqbal said that laws were presented but not clearly interpreted and applied. “The government plays a key role in developing a legal system and applying legal norms,” he said.