TOBA TEK SINGH: University of Agriculture Faisalabad Vice Chancellor Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan has stressed spread of the message of Sufi saints like Waris Shah in the young generation to revive Punjabi culture, saying the Punjabi language and culture are facing a decline.

He inaugurated on Friday the Waris Shah Chair at the Faculty of Arts and Humanity of the university.

“Waris Shah was a legend of PunjabilLanguage and his realistic depiction of details of life and the political situation in the 18th century remains unique”.

Dr Khan added that Shah’s whole poetry was an album of colourful and enchanting pictures of life in Punjab and it was deeply absorbing. He termed it unfortunate that due recognition was not given to Punjabi culture and language in the country and the UAF recently set up the Faculty of Arts and Humanities to bring about tangible results for the same cause.

Faculty of Arts and Humanity Dean Dr Shazia Ramzan described the Heer Waris Shah as a treasure-trove of Punjabi phrases and idioms and that the seminal work of Shah was one of the quintessential works of classical Punjabi literature. She said establishment of the new Faculty of Arts and Humanities would give strength to literary activities.

Dr Jameel Ahmed said Waris Shah’s romantic love story was a poetic expression of the love of the human soul for God.

Department of English and Linguistics Chairman Dr Asim Aqeel said an independent Waris Shah Academic Chair would promote Punjabi literature, language, culture, multilingual research based on language experiments (comparative studies) on the Punjabi Shakespeare (Waris Shah).

Dr Bahadur Ali, Dr Kashif, Dr Riaz Virk,Asghar Ali, AH Atif, Irshad Sindhu, Riaz Ahmed Qadri, Prof Anwar Ali, Iqbal Qaiser and Dr Attaul Mustafa also spoke.

FCCI: The Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) will encourage young entrepreneurs to enhance their professional skills through Chevening Scholarships.

Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Dr Khurram Tariq said this on Friday during a meeting with a delegation of UK High Commission.

Dr Tariq said Pakistan and the UK had strong relations across various sectors of the economy. He said the UK offers fully-funded scholarships to Pakistani youth, enabling them to gain advanced knowledge.

On their return to Pakistan, they could play a productive role in bringing qualitative improvements to their respective professions or fields. He assured them that digital brochures would be circulated among 10,000 FCCI members so that they or their children could apply for this scholarship in time.

He requested that misconceptions about the scholarship be addressed so applicants could apply without reservations.

Ms. Sneha informed him about the importance of the Chevening Scholarships and said that intake for 2025-26 has already started and will continue until Nov 5. She said the announcement of selected students would be made in June 2025, with studies starting in September or October 2025.

She explained that it was a one-year master’s degree programme that is fully funded.

“It is designed for mid-career professionals working in their respective fields after completing their graduation,” she said, adding that the ultimate objective is for these students to play a key role in introducing innovative reforms.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2024