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Mere Rhetoric Don’t Deliver
February 04, 2011
“If you thought that Global Indian Takeover was just a hollow cliché leaning on a few iconic successes like Pepsi’s Indra Nooyi, Citibank’s Vikram Pandit and steel world’s Lakshmki Mittal,” said The Times of India (March 12, 2008), “there is a slew of statistics now to give it solid blast...As many as 12 per cent scientists and 38 per cent doctors in the US are Indians, and in NASA, 36 per cent or almost 4 out of 10 scientists are Indians....34 per cent employees at Microsoft, 28 per cent at IBM, 17 per cent at Intel and 13 per cent at Xerox are Indians....20 per cent of gold in the world is used by Indians and nine out of 10 diamonds used in the world are made in India...The number of PhD holders had gone up from 17,898 two years back to 18,730 last year.” These figures were given to the Rajya Sabha, in March 2008, in defence of India’s higher education system and the state of research.
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Almost 26 years after Rawalpindi city’s only technical institution was closed down by General Ziaul Haq, Rawalpindi district has got a polytechnic college in Taxila.
The report by one of the leading English language daily newspapers of the country refreshed my memory about some ugly events of the bygone decades.
The Rawalpindi polytechnic college was one of the best technical colleges in the region. Some fondly called it the ‘Pride of Asia.’ However, the college students had some genuine problems. When nobody cared to redress their grievances for months, to press for their demands, the students boycotted classes and came on the GT (Grand Trunk) road, one day. They impounded some automobiles, blocked the trunk road setting ablaze 2-3 vehicles and making bonfire of about a dozen old tyres.
The agitation by the students infuriated the despot. Rather, it instilled in him fear about this incident’s becoming the starting point for an uprising against his rule. He knew that PPP leader Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had led a students’ procession from that very place against another despot – Ayub Khan, which ultimately turned into a popular movement that led to Ayub Khan’s downfall. Therefore, he decided to get rid of a potential threat to his rule, and closed down Rawalpindi’s polytechnic college in 1984 on the pretext of recurrent protests by students, who invariably also blocked the GT road. Perhaps, through this act, General Zia also wanted to convey a warning to citizens that the authorities were in no mood to tolerate nuisance of any sort or attempts at disturbing peace.
However, only a despot could close down an educational institution on the pretext of preserving peace! The incident bears testimony to the indifferent attitude of despots towards education and also their narrow vision, short-sighted policies and tendency to taking extreme acts to prolong their (mis)rule.
As education, in particular technical education, remained low on the priorities of all despots from General Ayub Khan to General Ziaul Haq and their protégés, it resulted in the shortage of blue-collared workers in the country, impelling investors, during closing years of the last millennium, to demand permission for the import of technical hands from abroad at a time when the country faced high unemployment. Furthermore, it impeded prospects for the growth of engineering sector with the result that the country’s share in the global trade for engineering goods remains negligible while this sector accounts for 63% of the global trade. In addition to Europe and the USA, scores of countries in Asia and Africa have used their engineering sector as a springboard or key industry to drive sustainable economic growth. One may cite the example of Japan, China, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, Turkey, India and South Africa in this category.
To cut the story short, the building of Rawalpindi polytechnic college remained closed down for many years, but thereafter the despot thought it proper to use it for the setting up of EME College of Engineering. The despot was happy that he had found a remedy not only for getting rid of undisciplined students, but also for eliminating a potential threat to his rule. But this step proved too costly for the nation and the country because of the continuously rising dearth of technical hands for meeting the growing civic and industrial needs. This, in turn, hit the revenues, reversing the country’s development and progress and badly affecting new job opportunities.
Spread over 100 kanals at Hattar Road, Taxila, the new polytechnic college started the admission process in September, 2010 in three-year diploma programme in mechanical, electrical, civil, telecom and chemical engineering disciplines. It also plans to have a centre of excellence. The provincial government has allocated Rs.262 million for purchase of equipment for the college. After passing out of the first batch in three years, the authorities envisage to start B. Tech programme in the college in affiliation with the Punjab University.
Can Taxila Polytechnic College be a substitute for the prestigious Rawalpindi polytechnic college? Or, can a college at Taxila be a substitute for the one at Rawalpindi? Certainly, not! The incident highlights the treatment that despots give to education, in particular to technical and professional education. Anyhow, the fact remains that Rawalpindi city is still without a polytechnic college of its own. Taxila is one of the Tehsils of Rawalpindi district and the authorities need to open technical colleges in each and every Tehsil of the country to impart knowledge in the latest and emerging skills if they really want the country to catch-up with other regional countries.
But polytechnic was not the only educational institution that was closed down by General Zia. In 1984, he had closed another institution – Barani (Arid Zone) Agriculture College – because of unrest among students, who would frequently block the main road linking Rawalpindi city with the capital city of Islamabad. But the agriculture college was revived within a few years, due to tireless efforts and struggle by Farzand-e-Pindi – Sheikh Rashid. That college was later upgraded to a university and it is now imparting knowledge to students keen to make careers in arid zone agriculture.
In public, however, General Zia always advocated the cause of education. He would often lament the low literacy rate and acute shortage of professionals in the country and would launch campaigns for the promotion of literacy, appealing to citizens to support the official efforts aimed at the promotion of literacy. But, in reality, this only proved to be a rhetoric, which his actions did not support.
On the other hand, countries where leaders realised the importance of education and educated workforce, now rank pretty high in the comity of nations. The situation in the South Asian region is not different. Here, our neighbouring country, India, seems to be engaged in efforts to take over the globe. In the next few years, it is likely to appear as the third economic power in the world because of its strong industrial sector, exports of engineering goods and net earnings from the services sector.
“If you thought that Global Indian Takeover was just a hollow cliché leaning on a few iconic successes like Pepsi’s Indra Nooyi, Citibank’s Vikram Pandit and steel world’s Lakshmki Mittal,” said The Times of India (March 12, 2008), “there is a slew of statistics now to give it solid blast...As many as 12 per cent scientists and 38 per cent doctors in the US are Indians, and in NASA, 36 per cent or almost 4 out of 10 scientists are Indians....34 per cent employees at Microsoft, 28 per cent at IBM, 17 per cent at Intel and 13 per cent at Xerox are Indians....20 per cent of gold in the world is used by Indians and nine out of 10 diamonds used in the world are made in India...The number of PhD holders had gone up from 17,898 two years back to 18,730 last year.” These figures were given to the Rajya Sabha, in March 2008, in defence of India’s higher education system and the state of research.
Against this, we find that many third world countries, despite their wealth of vast natural resources, lag behind in many sectors and walks of human life because of their inability to base their economies on knowledge and technology. The authorities in our country also appear to be following an apathetic attitude towards education. The indifferent attitude of the authorities towards education forced the young doctors association of Rawalpindi to organise a peaceful demonstration in front of the Rawalpindi Medical College (RMC) Girls Hostel, on January 29, 2011, pleading for the evacuation of RMC’s Hostel building which is being occupied by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for the last nearly 10 years.
Pity the nation whose minions of the State forcefully occupy premises of educational institutions or the students hostels for use by one agency of the State or the other!
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