KARACHI, June 7: Senior teachers, students and friends paid tribute to Prof Dr Khalil Chishti at a reception held in his honour at Karachi University on Thursday.

The event was organised by the department of microbiology, Karachi University Teachers Society (Kuts) and Unikarians International.

Prof Chishti, Pakistan’s first virologist and a former student and faculty member of the KU, was visiting his alma mater after more than 20 years that he had spent in detention in India.

The octogenarian professor was handed down life imprisonment in a murder case following an 18-year trial and sent to the Ajmer jail in January last year. He, however, was allowed to visit his home country last month for a few months after the issue was highlighted in the media and subsequently taken up by officials of both countries.

Praising Prof Chishti’s contributions to the KU, Prof Dr Shahana Urooj Kazmi, the chairperson of the microbiology department and a former student of Prof Chishti, said it was an occasion to celebrate as efforts made for Prof Chishti’s release finally paid off.

Karachi University, she said, had formed a committee in this regard and a petition that the professor be released on humanitarian grounds was sent to all high-ups of both India and Pakistan.

“The reason why we took up this issue so late was simply that relevant information was not available. But once it came in through the media, we never lost our focus,” she said.

Giving a brief account of his life, Prof Kazmi said Prof Chishti was born in 1930 in Ajmer and studied there up to grade IX. He came to Pakistan in 1947 and completed his school education at Jacob Lines School. Later, he did his BSc honours in microbiology from D.J. Science College, which was then affiliated with Bombay University. He did his master’s in the same subject from Karachi University in 1959.

“He taught at D.J. Science College and Karachi University for some years before he left for Manchester to do a doctorate in bacteriology in 1964. He got another PhD in public health virology from Edinburgh University,” she told the audience.

Dr Chishti, according to Dr Kazmi, served at the university upon his return to Pakistan and then served in Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Iran at key research positions.

Reminiscing about her student days under Prof Chishti’s guidance, Tashmeem Razzaki, a former faculty member of the university and currently working at the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation, said he was a visionary who thought of research in such a new subject as virology when people had little understanding of microbiology.

“His enthusiasm for research was great. He never feared taking up challenges and motivated students to deliver their best with minimum resources,” she said.

Prof Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui, vice chancellor of Ziauddin University and former vice chancellor of the KU, said Prof Chishti was among the most brilliant teachers Karachi University had ever produced.

“He was adventurous and innovative,” he said while sharing anecdotes about his experiences with Prof Chishti.

As the director-general of public health and hygiene at Jeddah airport, he conceived a three-year screening project for pilgrims, which was executed by Karachi University faculty members, he added.

Prof Dr Mohammad Qaiser, vice chancellor of KU, in his brief speech said the university was planning to set up a centre for virology and would like Prof Chishti to extend his expertise to it.

Prof Chishti thanked the university faculty members for honouring him and said he was ready to help the university in whatever way he could.

“My message to the youth is, think of innovation and develop an interest in new things. As far as resources are concerned, they could also be acquired if a will is there. You must know that you are studying at one of the best institutions in the country,” he said.

He also stressed the need for learning new languages and said that while he was in jail in India he learnt Hindi and got a certificate in the language.

Prof Dr Aqeel Ahmed, Prof Dr Nusrat Jamil, dean of the science faculty, Kuts president Sheikh Mutahir Ahmed, president of the Unikarians International Dr Iqbal Ahmed, and Anees Baloch, an ex-director of a multinational company and a former student of Prof Chishti, also paid tribute to Prof Chishti.