Dr Ishrat Hussain, Former Governor of State Bank of Pakistan, Advisor to the Prime Minister for Institutional Reforms and Austerity and Dean of IBA Karachi, said today that he believes in competition, not in safarish, or favoritism, and he has always accepted challenges, thus our students should not run behind grades but they acquire knowledge and believe in hard working, after that jobs will search them, not they will run behind jobs.
This he said while while delivering a lecture at Sindh Madressatul Islam University (SMIU) on the theme of ‘My Experiences and Encounters’ at Sir Shahnawaz Bhutto Auditorium of the university. The SMIU organised the lecture under its ‘Popular Lecture Series.’ It was the third lecture of its kind, earlier Mr. Nisar Memon and Mr. Javed Jabbar had delivered lectures on the same subject.
Dr Ishrat Hussain said that he had inherited commitment from the teachers of University of Sindh during his study at the said university, because they were selfless, honest and committed with their profession. They were feeling proud on the success of their students, and it was not a matter of concern for them that how much they have earned money. He said he was weak in one subject, and the subject teacher was used to teach him after completion of class thinking that his student should not be weak in a subject. At that time there was no tuition culture, therefore today we need reforms in education sector also.
Praising the faculty of University of Sindh of that time he said Allama I.I. Kazi, Dr. Nabi Bux Kahn Baloch and Dr. Halepoto were great academicians and intellectuals of Pakistan, but we didn’t find such great intellectuals in present day times. He said we need such intellectuals and role models who inspire our young generations today. He further said that in those days there were no ethnic differences, all students were friends to each other. ‘Mazhar ul Siddiqui (former vice chancellor of University of Sindh), I and other students had contested elections of Students Unions. Dr. Adeeb Rizvi was studying in Liaquat Medical Collage, since then we are best friends.
Dr. Ishrat Hussain said that he received his school, college and then university education from Hyderabad Sindh, because University of Sindh was housed in Hyderabad hence he understands that school and college education has a key role in character building, citizenship and professionalism of a person. He advised the students that they should not lose hope but they must believe in continuous struggle and hard working.
He said that when he was posted as deputy commissioner at Shikarpur, girl students of the area were used to go Sukkur for college education, then he established a college for girls at Shikarpur. Thereafter, tens of hundreds girl students received their education and achieved important positions in the country and abroad as well.
Giving examples from his life and different professions he chose during his professional life Dr. Ishrat Hussain said he did not consider wrong to change profession at any stage of the life. He himself started his career as a lecture at University of Sindh, then passed competitive examination and became civil servant, then joint different national and international organisation. This is why our young generation must be free to choose their profession, instead of the will of their parents and friends.
He was of the view that brain drain should not be taken as a negative phenomenon, instead people must go outside the country, acquire education, knowledge, experiences and skills from there, have international exposure and then come back to their own country and serve it in a better way.
Talking about the importance of local languages the former Governor of State Bank of Pakistan said that he fluently speaks Sindhi and Bengali languages also. ‘When I was serving in East Pakistan as a civil servant, I had learnt Bengali language in six months, that benefited me to know the problems of poor people of the West Pakistan,’ Dr. Ishrat Hussain said and added that when I was transferred to West Pakistan, I was given farewell by four major political parties of East Pakistan because I was talking in Bengali. Dr. Ishrat Hussain further advised the citizens of the country must learn local languages as these languages are vehicle of communication. If one cannot learn other languages he/she will not win hearts of the people.
Talking about his early life he said when he was six or seven years old his parents had migrated from Agra to Karachi via Surat. ‘In the ship from Surat he had suffered a seasickness and his mother had said that her son will not survive. He said that after reaching at Karachi his family was moved to a refugee camp set up in Malir, which was a deserted area in those days. Mentioning his family’s migration from Karachi to Hyderabad he said his aunty and her husband were living in Hyderabad Sindh. One day they said to his father that they should shift to Hyderabad because a nearby house is vacant due to the migration of its Hindu owners to India.
He in a lighter tone said that one day he was a part of a procession along with Shaikh Abdul Majeed Sindhi, which was took out against the One Unit and thereafter he was made Deputy Secretary of the One Unit Dissolution Committee. ‘After dissolution of One Unit in 1969 we faced a lot problems during the formation of a new government of Sindh, because there were lack of resources.’
Dr. Ishrat Hussain appreciated the Vice Chancellor of SMIU Dr. Mujeeb Sahrai for arranging his lecture at SMIU and said that he considers good to interact with young generation of the country. Earlier Dr. Mujeeb Sahrai in his introductory speech presented a brief life sketch of Dr. Ishrat Hussain and said that we are proud of his services rendered for the development of the country through his vision, wisdom, knowledge and experiences. Dr. Sahrai said that the main objective of organising this kind of lecture programs is to introduce students with their great personalities who are considered as a role model in the country. Dr. Sahrai said Dr. Ishrat Hussain has crossed traditional definition of the intellectual, on the contrary he has set a great example in all fields where he has served.
Turkish Counsel General Mr. Cemal Sangu in his speech appreciated the contribution of Dr. Ishrat Hussain towards the development of Pakistan. He said that Dr. Ishrat Hussain basically belongs to the City of Hassanally Effendi- Hyderabad and he loves Hyderabad due to Hassanally Effendi.
The moderator of the session was Dr. Jamshed Adil Halepoto, Dean Faculty of Social Sciences of SMIU. Ms. Zonaira Jalali conducted proceedings. On the occasion question-answer session was also held. Later on, Dr. Mujeeb Sahrai presented souvenirs to the guests. The session was attended by deans, chairperson of different academic departments, faculty, officers, students and prominent personalities of the city.