Recently, one of my classfellows challenged me to name ten scientists from Pakistan, be it, Baloch, Sindhi, Pakhtun, Punjabi etc. I ended up naming only Dr. Abdul Salam and Dr. Qadeer Khan and was dumbstruck because I have read about them in the books but he also couldn’t name more than four or five.

This shows how we are behind in respect with the science and technological era.

It is said that at least 4% of the GDP must be spent for a stabilized education system but Pakistan being an underdeveloped country spends only 2.7% of its GDP on education while countries even like Maldives spend 11.2%, Uzbekistan; 7.4% and Bhutan;4.8%.

But Pakistan on the other hand seems investing on building underpasses ,missile programs and buying F16 or weapons to put salt on the injury of its own people.

The world powers like America, Russia, China, Japan, India etc have the torch of scientific inquiry and the true knowledge of nature.

Our neighbouring countries like China or India have topped the scientific inquiry since China has sent astronauts into space ,apart from landing a rover on the moon and it is now on the way to a mission on Mars. Whilst India has launched Missions on the Moon and Mars and is pushing the frontiers of knowledge. These countries have got scientists in every field whether form particle physics to theoretical physics or to have scientists who are experts in biology or chemistry etc.

Unfortunately, our own scientist and Nobel laureate Dr. Abdul Salam had to live abroad and he wasn’t even allowed to speak at Quaid Azam University and the same is with Dr. Qadeer Khan.

However, our schools on the other hand teach us about the Darwinian evolution Theory etc to poke about and we are taught that all the things in the universe are the creations of one omnipresent deity but Allah himself says in the holy Qur’an to research about the knowledge of nature.

Our school curriculum are all about conquerors like Alexander the Great, Muhammad Bin Qasim, Mahmood Ghazni, Muhammad Ghauri, cyrus the Great or Changis Khan etc and we are called to emulate and follow their footsteps. So in return, the country’s people must not expect scientists, educators or intellectuals but conquerors in the shape of corrupt political elites ,thieves, target killers ,suicide bombers etc who don’t conquer other countries but give tough time to their own people by conducting suicide bombings, target killings, corruption etc.

ZEESHAN NASIR,

Kolahoo, March 23.