KARACHI - There is an intellectual deficit in Pakistan. Developed countries made great progress of their national languages. Nations’ development is associated with the progress that they made in science and education. Book reading culture needs to be revived in the country. The appropriate use of blog writing can help scientists to promote science in the society.
These views were expressed by senior journalists and scientists, while speaking at the one-day seminar on “Blog Writing for Science Promotion, and Use of Urdu in Media” held at the Prof Salimuzzaman Siddiqui Auditorium of International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), University of Karachi here on Friday.
The ICCBS, University of Karachi has organized the seminar in which Director ICCBS Prof Dr M Iqbal Choudhary, Firasat Rizvi, Prominent Intellectual Poet and Literary Figure, Prof Dr Touseef Ahmed Khan, Bilal Karim Mughal, and Aleem Ahmed expressed their views.
Prof Iqbal Choudhary said that education was the only way for Pakistan to be developed. He pointed out that Pakistani media had failed to make the commoner realize the significance of science. Our journalists and scientists are required to improve their communication skills, he added. He said that science taught people rationality, which is a truth-seeking act.
Prof Touseef Ahmed Khan said that along with the promotion of education a commoner was required to take on the scientific way of thinking in their daily lives. He lamented that a large segment of Pakistan’s population still employ the irrational ways of thinking.
Firasat Rizvi, torching light on the inappropriate use of Urdu language in media, pointed out that even the qualified section in the country were not aware of the correct use of the language, which was really a social dilemma. As compared to the print media, the wrong use of the national language are largely related to the electronic media, he pointed out, and adding that book reading culture has nearly been eliminated.
Talking about the importance of blog writing for the promotion of science, Bilal Karim Mughal declared that writing a blog was an easy job as compared to writing an article. Contrary to an article, blog is informal in its writing type, he said and maintained that the novel medium of blog was really an opportunity for scholars and students to promote science in the society by writing on the unique science issues of public interest. He regretted that there was no space for science on the important pages of our national newspapers.
