SWABI: Speakers at a reference held on Thursday at the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology for Dr Ishfaq Ahmad, former chairman of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and member Board of Governors GIK Institute, said that his tremendous contributions to the country as a great scientist would be remembered for ever. Dr Ishfaq passed away on Jan 18 in Islamabad.

The reference was attended by late Dr Ishfaq’s close associate scientists and academia of GIK Institute.

The speakers said that Dr Ishfaq remained PAEC chairman from 1991 to 2001.

He was also instrumental in establishing various cancer treatment centres and played a key role in establishing Pakistan’s civil nuclear plants at Chashma and Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority, they said.

They recalled that Dr Ishfaq joined PAEC as a senior scientist in 1962 on the request of (late) Prof Abdus Salam.

Dr Pervez Butt, a former chairman of PAEC, said that Dr Ishfaq had contributed enormously in making PAEC a great institution and his best quality was that he had worked for the motherland with devotion and determination. “He had brought young Pakistanis from abroad and groomed them to become eminent scientists,” Dr Butt said.

Engr Shamsul Mulk, president of Society for the Promotion of Engineering Sciences and Technology in Pakistan, said that it was contribution of Dr Ishfaq and various other scientists that Pakistan had got the potential and capacity to lead the South Asian region.

Dr Shaukat Hameed, a physicist and colleague of Dr Ishfaq, said that he had created the best working environment in PAEC to deliver according to the needs of country’s security.

Dr Zaigham Habib, senior adviser at National Disaster Management Authority, said that Dr Ishfaq had encouraged and guided them at a very crucial stage and his role in drafting Pakistan’s climate change policy was extraordinary.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2018