LAHORE, March 12: Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali has said whenever Pakistan appears to be surmounting its difficulties and arrives at the threshold of an economic breakthrough, hidden hands , not only alien but also from within our own fold serving as tools, try to dash the efforts.

Speaking at the second convocation of the Government College University on Friday, the prime minister said economic self-sufficiency and progress in today's competitive world were inescapable for the preservation of national dignity and political independence.

He said: "Challenges can, in fact, provide great openings for us if we face those with courage and conviction. We have done that before and shall do that in the future."

The prime minister said Pakistan today found itself on the vortex of momentous developments both in the region and at the global level. He said new threats were raising their head.

Mr Jamali stressed that people should not allow casting a slur on Islam. "If we allow ourselves to be sucked into a slanging match over the clash of civilizations or the conflict of ideologies, we will be walking into the enemy's trap and damage our own cause," he said.

He said there was a need to put up efforts to dismantle the wall of prejudice against Islam. "To be accepted as a credible factor in international cooperation, Muslims must first become a credible society in the modern sense."

He regretted that the local women were a victim of un-Islamic customs and traditions. He said even the so-called educated members of society got besmeared with their slush and become unwilling tools under pressure for perpetration of iniquities against women.

He appreciated the GCU's decision to revive the seven per cent sports and two per cent kinship quotas for admission. He announced a grant of Rs100 million for the GCU, besides directing Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi to give at least 50 acres to the university for extension.