LAHORE: Government College University (GCU) will establish Kashmir Centre of Excellence to effectively highlight the Kashmir issue.
GCU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Asghar Zaidi while speaking to Sardar Masood Khan, President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, in a meeting at the Jammu and Kashmir House. Prof Zaidi said the Kashmir Centre of Excellence would help create opportunities for the students and faculty members to fully understand the various dimensions of the Kashmir dispute and also produce academic discourses on this issue.
The vice chancellor also apprised the President that GCU had vibrant and active student societies which had earned praise from all over Pakistan. He added that various societies like the debating, culture, arts and performance societies would work in tandem with the Kashmir Society to produce plays, songs and also hold debating competitions on Kashmir.
Talking to Prof Zaidi, the President Azad Jammu and Kashmir said, “Our future generation studying in higher education institutions should be trained in new technologies and prepared to face the challenges of the evolving job market. Only then will our youth be able to take Pakistan on the path to success and prosperity.”
President Masood Khan appreciated the initiatives of the GCU management in highlighting the Kashmir issue. He said being the oldest alma mater in the subcontinent, their efforts would act as a huge catalyst in raising the Kashmir issue both in Pakistan and the world. The President said that GCU could be instrumental in organising national and international conferences on the Kashmir dispute The president while inviting the VC to visit Muzaffarabad, said that AJK had five public sector universities and groundwork could be prepared for student and faculty exchange programmes in order to enhance mutual linkages, create an atmosphere of learning and focus on capacity building.
Prof Dr Asghar also invited the President to address the students and faculty at GCU on Kashmir. He said that this interaction would help provide them with critical information on the nature of the dispute and the on-going human rights violations taking place in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
