THIS is with reference to the two letters on Sir Syed (Oct 17 and Oct 22). The mission begun by Sir Syed must be continued.

Sir Syed was aware that the modern knowledge could be accessed only through English. With this aim, he started advocating the use of a language — English — he himself knew very little. That was why he transplanted ‘Cambridge’ in India, now Aligarh Muslim University.

That was 139 years ago. During this time hundreds of thousands of Muslim students have drunk deep from this spring of knowledge, Aligarh Muslim University, and as a result found a respectable place in society.

The result of Sir Syed’s effort is our nuclear capability. This is not enough. We need PhDs in all fields. We are enjoying the fruits of research work done elsewhere, particularly in Europe and America. We are dependent on them. We have to develop self-reliance and it will come with more PhDs.

Let me quote Syed: “We eat the crumbs of knowledge they throw at us, and we are all satisfied with that.”

There is no Sir Syed and his mission is not yet accomplished. We can salvage the situation by opening institutes of higher learning where only MScs enroll for the purpose of PhD.

We should have specific tasks for our PhD students, and these tasks should be determined by national requirement. These students should be given handsome stipend so that they do not need jobs.

We can start with one such institution of higher learning. Such an institution will be far more focused than a full-fledged university where undergraduate classes cause a lot of disruptions.

Now the community has to raise funds for this task. Pakistanis donate more than Rs.70 billion every year in charity. We can channel this money into education. In 1894, Sir Syed said, “We become humans only when we take education in our hands.”

Mohammed Hanif Khan

Karachi

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2014