RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: The Sindh Madressatul Islam University (SMIU) on Saturday awarded 287 degrees, including eight gold medals, 92 graduates and 195 undergraduates in its third annual convocation.

The ceremony held at the Expo Centre was presided over by Pro Chancellor Nisar Ahmed Khuhro. Provincial Information Minister Saeed Ghani was the guest of the honour.

Addressing the ceremony, Khuhro said the SMIU graduates must be proud of their affiliation with the university. “SMIU is the alma mater of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and you are lucky ones being the part of the educational institution where he studied.”

Khuhro said there were a few universities when they came into the power in 2008. “There are 50 universities [public and private] in Sindh province now,” he added. He said his Sindh government had been trying its best to provide quality education to people of Sindh. “We will continue our support to all the educational institutions, including the SMIU.”

Appreciating the contribution of SMIU students in the struggle for Pakistan, Khuhro said: “This institution produced a force of an educated class that ultimately demanded a separate country for the Muslim of this part of the world.”

“Sindh Assembly was played an important role. SMIU produced a force of an educated class like Jinnah, GM Syed and others who demanded a separate identity for their people. They actually demanded a separate land and through their struggle Pakistan came into existence.” Khuhro congratulated graduates and their parents. “I wish you a bright future.” He also appreciated the role of parents of the students. “It’s really a big day for them,” he added, asking students to earn a name for their parents, SMIU and the country.

“SMIU is one of the reputed universities of Pakistan,” Ghani said. “Be proud of graduates of this great institute,” he added. “I wish other institutions may follow SMIU and the way it adopted in achieving the success in very limited time.”

Ghani said “the people [opposition] and the media had been criticizing but we have done several things, including establishment of universities.” He said the graduates of SMIU had an emotional attachment with the university. “You are part of the institution that is the alma mater of founder of Pakistan. This is alma mater of several well-known personalities.”

“The university graduates always play a decisive role in country’s progress and development,” Vice Chancellor SIMU Dr Muhammad Ali Shaikh said. “We don’t need to go after natural resources. We have a huge human resource available. We need to exploit it smartly,” he added. He said those nations who mostly relied on their human resources progressed well.

Congratulating the students and their parents, Dr Shaikh said that it was great moment for them as they finally received their degrees. “You [students] have to start your career and I wish you bright future.”

SMIU VC said that the students who acquired education from this institution had played a very important role in the development and progress of the country. “It’s an honour for every graduate because they got degrees from Jinnah’s alma mater.”