MIRPUR: (Parliament Times) Unveiling the top three priorities of the popularly-elected PML (N) government of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, its Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan announced here on Tuesday that his government has taken off to achieve the fruits of its multi-prong priorities including the Kashmir freedom struggle, emergence of the rule of good governance and the speedy socio-economic progress and prosperity of the liberated territory of AJK.
He was addressing the students and faculty members of the state-run Mirpur University of Science & Technology (MUST) at the old campus here Tuesday afternoon. In his address of welcome Vice Chancellor of the MUST Prof. Dr. Habib u Rehman – Sitara –e-Imtiaz, highlighted the curricular and co-curricular activities of his varsity through the dispensation of quality education of science & Technology including in seven graduate and post graduate disciplines of engineering in line with the needs of the modern age. The VC unveiled the recently-granted top ‘W’ rating status with 86.47 per cent score to the MUST by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan under the recently-conducted ‘Quantitative Assessment of Internal Quality Assurance Mechanism’ set by the HEC.
Director Students Affairs MUST Dr. Shahid Amin also addressed the ceremony. Earlier, the Prime Minister was warmly received by the Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Habib ur Rehman (Sitara e Imtiaz), Registrar Prof. Engr. Muhammad Waris Jiraal, Deans of various disciplines of education including Prof. Dr. Rehana Asghar, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Riaz Mughal, Engr. Prof. Shabir Mirza, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Khaleeque, Secretary MUST Muhammad Afzal Farooq, PRO Murtaza Mahmood Raja and other senior officials and students when he reached the highly-upgraded old campus of the university.
Applauding MUST for the delivery of quality education in over 22 disciplines of science, engineering and information technology, the Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan called upon the students to lend all of their skills and talent to be emerged as the quality future architects of the nation – since they will have to take the command of the nation in the future. Underlining their due responsibilities to raise the Kashmir issue both at national and international level, Haider advised the students to ensure maximum use of the social media for highlighting the importance of early peaceful settlement of Kashmir issue, which, he added, involved the legitimate right of self determination of over 20 million people of the Jammu & Kashmir state. Our young generation, the prime minister added, will have to move for positive use of this fast rising regime of information technology to apprise the external world of the ugly situation of Indian-occupied Jammu & Kashmir which was reeling the history worst era of state terrorism and human rights abuses by the occupational forces for raising the voice of freedom of the motherland from the Indian subjugation.
Referring to the huge national resources of Azad Jammu Kashmir, Haider said that his government was going to restore the transparency of the equal use of the natural resources since these were meant for the entire state and not for any vested-interest individual or group. Underlining the priorities of his government for ensuring the delivery of quality education right from primary to the varsity level, the Prime Minister said that his government has introduced the transparent selection system through the NTS (National Testing Service) for filling the vacant positions in the State Education Department – primarily under the spirit to secure the social fabric of the AJK territory.“We have decided to get the state-run institutions rid of all sorts of the menaces of political influence and pressure and illicit recommendations (Safarish) from any quarter replacing it through the strict implementation of the principal of merit during the course of recruitment against vacant positions in the public-sector institutions across AJKâ€, he declared.
“Time has come to establish the rule of law and justice in AJK where our jobless educated youth was suffering form, frustration dissention and unrest because of the outgoing long regime of injustice which badly abused the principal during their rule in the stateâ€, he added. The AJK Prime Minister said that economically strong, prosperous and democratic Pakistan enriched with strong credibility the world over was the guarantee to the freedom of Jammu & Kashmir from Indian yoke. He said that India shall have to be pressed for moving for result-oriented talks with Pakistan and the people of Jammu & Kashmir for the peaceful settlement of Kashmir issue.
Farooq Haider strongly condemned the continued reign of state terrorism in occupied Jammu & Kashmri where India was massively using the worst weapon of pallot guns to blind the young boys and girls to suppress their voice of freedom. He said it was so sad to note that our brethren and sisters in the Indian atrocities-riddled and curfew-clamped occupied Kashmir valley were taking only one time food instead of three times in 24 hours because of the era of starvation since over past six months. The AJK Prime Minister vehemently condemned the recent wave of unprovoked Indian firing on the line of control in Azad Jammu Kashmir.
He warned India that she could not harass or keep people of Jammu & Kashmir away of their just principled struggle for freedom of the occupied state through such cowardly and coercive tactics. Raja Farooq Haider Khan also strongly condemned the suicide blast in Lahore on Monday which claimed precious human lives including two senior police officials. He said that such cowardly acts of terrorism could not resort to any harm to the integrity and solidarity of the country and its firm stand to vanish the terrorism from its roots from the country.
Speaking on this occasion, Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Habib ur Rehman highlighted the laurels clinched by the MUST varsity in a short span of last three years for the delivery of the quality higher education in line with the criteria set by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. He disclosed that Rs. 350 million budget of the MUST three years ago was raised to Rs. One billion because of vanishing of all previous ill-deeds and addressing of all issues which had thrown the varsity to below 50 percent score three years ago. The VC continued that MUST has attained the record highest ‘W’ cadre rating by obstaining 86.47 percent score determined by the Quality Assurance Agency of Higher Education Commission this year.
Dr. Habib ur Rehman said that all business of higher education in the university has been institutionalized to meet the stipulated criteria of the HEC. He disclosed that the varsity has launched various products of the varsity for fund raising through private public partnership. He also referred to the issuance of computerized driving licenses of international standard in Mirpur division with the coordination of Mirpur police.
The VC said that following the reforms and speedy uplift of the education system the varsity was successfully satisfying all the stake holders in the absolute peaceful academic environment. Dr. Habib ur Rehman appreciated the sitting government’s policy of introducing the NTS system in the education department at the first step. He expressed the hope that the NTS system would lead to improve the quality of education in the public-sector educational institutions in AJK. The Prime Minister was flanked by sevral of his cabinet colleagues including sr. minister Ch. Tariq Farooq, Ch. Muhammad Saeed, Dr. Najeeb Naqi, Mushtaq Minhas, Mrs. Noureen Arif and Syed Shoukat Ali Shah. The Prime Minister later inaugurated the spring tree plantation drive by planting a sapling in the lawns of the MUST campus.
