MANSEHRA, May 14: The Chairman, Public Service Commission, NWFP, Mr Abdullah, has said that youths are like live electric wire and if they are not insulated with the cover of morality, their energies can be diverted for destructive activities and they can get wasted.

Mr Abdullah, who is a former NWFP chief secretary, said this while speaking to teachers and students of the Hazara University in Manshera.

In his lecture on Youth and Change at the varsity campus on Tuesday, he dealt with the topic from a number of angles. He said youths were full of energy, which needed to be harnessed by moral values, so that it could bring about directed and constructive change. Without moral direction, the youths could never succeed and were bound to waste themselves.

Mr Abdullah pointed out that about half of the population of the country consisted of the people in the age group of 15 to 45 years. “This means that Pakistan is a growing nation. It is a nation of young people.” He said that it was for this reason that enemies of Pakistan were scared of this nation and targeted it with their enmity. He said that the youths of Pakistan should not be bothered by such enmity and, instead, they should work hard within the framework of moral values to create a great society for themselves.

Mr Abdullah observed that many western nations were greying nations. Their population consist of mostly grey-haired and old people. “This gives an edge to Pakistan over these greying nations. Youth is the greatest agent of change in Pakistan and can make great achievements in the fields of knowledge, science and technology provided it works hard and works within the framework of normal values. He should not allow its energies to be scattered or wasted.”

He said that Hazara University, being a new institution, had structured itself into a unique seat of learning.

Later, Mr Abdullah spoke to the teachers on Mission and Methods in Teaching. He said that the teaching was a prophetic profession and all teachers stood on a higher moral levels than their society because they were its guides.

He said teachers could not be identified with the degenerated values of society and they were supposed to change society’s thought through their knowledge and moral authority.

In the end, Vice Chancellor of the Hazara University, Prof Ashraf Adeel, expressed his gratitude to Mr Abdullah for his though-provoking lectures for both teachers and students.