KARACHI, Oct 18: Eulogising the services of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, speakers at a seminar emphasized that he was a personality no less in stature and credentials than Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Dr Sir Allama Iqbal.

They were of the view that Sir Syed not only worked for the social and economical uplift of the Muslims of the Subcontinent, but would also be known as the initiators of the two-nation theory and the movement for a separate state for Muslims. They said his philosophy on educational reforms was universal in nature and could be adopted in other parts of the world as well.

The seminar was organized by the Aligarh Muslim University Old Boys’s Association here on Thursday night to mark the 185th birth anniversary of the great leader and visionary.

The president of the association, Zill-i-Ahmad Nizami, presided over the seminar which was attended by a good number of former and present government officials and dignitaries from the teaching community.

The former president of the Sindh High Court Bar Association, Sami Ahmed Khan, who has also authored a book on Sir Syed, talked at length on the personality, vision and practices of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.

He said that Sir Syed gave a new dimension to the Muslim consciousness after the first freedom struggle of 1857 in India. Had Sir Syed not guided the Muslims properly in 1858 and after, they would have lost their identity in the Subcontinent and the idea of Pakistan could not have been materialized, he added. “In fact he worked to restrengthen the Muslims in India and made them realize that English education was the key to their success,” he continued.

He informed the audience that Colonel Graham was the first biographer of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and published his book during the lifetime of Sir Syed, in the year 1885. He was followed by Altaf Hussain Hali.

He said that despite fierce opposition, Sir Syed laid the foundation of Aligarh College which proved a real place for any meaningful education of Muslims in the then India.

Scholar and critic, Dr Farman Fatehpuri, said that though Sir Syed was not very well-versed in English, he got his articles published in English in noted journals and newspapers including the “Pioneer” and the “Statesman”, with the assistance of his son and others who translated his urdu work in English.

Dr Farman said that Sir Syed was blessed with the best human qualities such as patience, tolerance and devotion to a cause. He added that Sir Syed also worked to reform the literature of his era.

Z A Nizami also lauded the services of late Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. “Whenever we talk of the two-nation theory or Pakistan, we will start with Sir Syed,” he said and added that Sir Syed was one of the pillars of the Pakistan Movement and was still a symbol of national integration.

Zakir Ali Khan, General (retd) Ghulam Umar, Mazhar Arif and Suhaib Ahmed also spoke on the occasion.