ISLAMABAD, March 3: The Sir Syed Memorial Society (SSMS) has finalized a plan to establish a science and technology university on the outskirts of Islamabad.

"A piece of land for the mega project will shortly be acquired in the suburbs of the capital," the SSMS president, Brig (retired) Iqbal M. Shafi, said in an exclusive interview with this agency.

He said the purpose of establishing the university was to carry forward the educational mission of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. The institution will offer studies in various disciplines blending of Islamic values and modern technological standards.

He said the proposed university would offer studies in medical, engineering, computer sciences and humanities with capacity for further expansion. "The university being named after the saviour of the Muslims of the sub-continent will not be a commercial entity like many other institutions," he remarked.

The Sir Syed Institute of Technology (SSIT) is the first phase of the proposed university, he said adding that the institute set up in the society's building is in the third year of its existence.

He said being a reformer Sir Syed Ahmad Khan set about to stop the degeneration of a nation by initiating a series of practical steps which included establishment of the Mohammadan Educational Conference in 1886. He recalled that the MAO college was eventually raised to the level of a university under the Aligarh Muslim University Act 1920. -PPI