This week we have been reminded that a citizen of Pakistan had won a Nobel Prize for Physics. Ah, but that was 37 years ago. In fact, the Nobel Laureate we are talking about died 20 years ago. Sometimes, we wait for so long to recognise an achievement that had brought glory to the nation.
I am, of course, referring to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s approval, in principle, to rename the National Centre for Physics at Islamabad’s Quaid-e-Azam University as the ‘Professor Abdus Salam Centre for Physics’. An official statement issued on Monday also said that the prime minister had approved a grant of five annual fellowships for Pakistani PhD candidates working in the field of physics at major international universities.
The statement noted that Dr Salam was the first Pakistani to receive a Nobel Prize and that “his remarkable achievements earned fame and prestige for the country which rightly deserves to be valued”.
What does this mean? Is this late – very late – acknowledgment of the exceptional accomplishment of an exceptional individual an indication of a resolve to confront the dark forces of bigotry and intolerance that have plagued Pakistani society? Is the prime minister serious about the objectives of the National Action Plan?
But first we should come clean about how Dr Salam was treated because he was an Ahmadi, though his faith could not negate his nationality and the rights that he should have enjoyed as a citizen of this country. On his part, he never wavered on his sense of belonging to this country.
A report published on Tuesday mentioned that institutions, roads and places have been named after him all over the world and a number of countries, including Britain and Italy, had offered him citizenship. Dr Salam did not accept these offers and he was finally buried in Pakistan, according to his wishes.
It is painful to recall that when, after he had been awarded the Nobel Prize, he was invited by the physics department of the Quaid-e-Azam University – the same place that will bear his name – Dr Salam was unable to enter the premises because of agitation by students who belonged to a right-wing religious party. This happened in December 1979.
Some protests are possible even now, after the formal recognition of the great physicist. There have been numerous attacks on minorities in Pakistan but the Ahmadiyya community has specifically been targeted. Emotions expressed in this regard are very strong and our political leaders have generally not shown the courage to commiserate with the beleaguered community.
In any case, Dr Salam deserved to be honoured for raising Pakistan’s banner in the domain of science and research. It has been rare in our history to attain such a distinction. The prize was awarded to Dr Salam but it also belonged, in a sense, to Pakistan. He was our hero and a source of pride and eminence for all of us. It was unfortunate that he was hounded out of Pakistan and he decided to establish the prestigious International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy.
We know that Dr Salam, particularly after he had won the Nobel Prize, was very keen to promote the cause of education and scientific research in Pakistan. If we had been able to benefit from his expertise and his international standing in a structured manner, the situation would possibly not be as dismal as it is today. Alas, we sometimes get overpowered, collectively, by bigotry and narrow-mindedness and become blind to what is actually in our own national interest.
However, one likes to think that this decision to finally pay tribute to Dr Salam is also prompted by a fresh resolve to foster higher education in science in Pakistan. The need to attend to our abject deprivations in the field of education was never so compelling. Some headlines this week provide an appropriate reference to the existing quality of our educational and intellectual resources which serve as a contrast to the heights reached by Dr Salam.
For instance, on Monday the National Assembly Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat was told that just 2.09 percent students who sat for the Central Superior Services (CSS) test passed while 92 percent failed in English. One headline read: ‘92pc CSS candidates fail in English’. The Federal Public Service Commission representative said that this was a matter of concern, indicating that the quality of education in the country was deteriorating.
Nobody would doubt this sombre observation. A steady decline in the country’s human resources is manifest in the shortage of officers for various important assignments. Another manifestation of this trend is the poor quality of performance in all sectors. The irony is that this dearth of talent overlaps with the multitude that is unemployed.
There has been this talk about the need to declare an ‘education emergency’ but it is hard to decipher the strategy that would transform the entire education system. As a starting point, perhaps, it would be necessary to erase the influence that the religious militants and fanatics have exercised at various levels in our society. The radicalisation of our youth in madressahs must stop. Persecution of any minority group should be considered a threat to the security of Pakistan.
For a country so impoverished in educational and cultural assets to try to disown one of its own citizens who excelled on the world’s stage is incomprehensible. Yet this is what happened. While Dr Salam was awarded his Nobel Prize long ago, another individual acquired a similar rare distinction and was almost rejected by the same elements that undermined the stature of Dr Salam.
True, the Nobel Peace Prize given to Malala Yousafzai is not a prize in the knowledge sector. But here we have a young individual, a teenager, being honoured. She, too, has created a global impact as a role model. The fact that Malala has generally been maligned in her own country is alarming and shows that the Taliban still have considerable influence in our society.
Hence, one measure of the emancipation of Pakistani society would be the vindication of the likes of Dr Salam and also Malala. Can Nawaz Sharif embark on this mission in a resolute manner? In less than a week, we will observe the second anniversary of the massacre of our schoolchildren in Peshawar. That would be an appropriate occasion for our rulers to renew their commitment to protect Pakistan from terrorists, extremists and bigots.
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