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Remembering an icon — GCU pays tribute to Dr Salam

By Hussain Kashif

LAHORE: Dr Abdus Salam was the greatest mind Pakistan has ever produced, scientists paying tribute to the Nobel laureate on his 13th death anniversary said on Satruday.

At a memorial meeting organised by the Government College University’s (GCU) Salam Chair and Physics department, in collaboration with the Pakistan Physical Society, professors and intellectuals gathered to pay tribute Dr Salam. Chairing the meeting, GCU Vice Chancellor Dr Khalid Aftab said Salam was concerned about the decline of science in Pakistan. Highlighting Dr Salam’s services in promoting science in third world countries, Aftab said the Nobel laureate struggled in his quest to give the field of science its due place in history.

The VC read extracts from Cosmic Anger by Gordon Fraser a biography of Salam’s life that traces his origins as a boy from a small town to a leading scientist.

Speaking on the occasion, GCU Salam Chair Dr Ghulam Murtaza, who was taught by Dr Salam himself, touched on the humble upbringing, ambitions, achievements, fame and virtues of the great scientist. He expounded on the obstacles and resistance faced by Salam in establishing the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, which remains to this day a monument to Salam’s determination. A prolific researcher in theoretical elementary particle physics, he was a recluse, shunning social engagements to work on his theories.

Murtaza explained his theories theory of the notable scientist and said, “Research by Dr Salam, Dr Weinberg and Dr Glashow culminated in equations demonstrating a fundamental relationship—or ‘symmetry’—between the electromagnetic force (which is transmitted by ordinary light and other forms of radiation) and the weak nuclear force, which operates within atomic nuclei and is responsible for certain types of radioactive decay. The four known forces of nature are the electromagnetic force, the weak and strong nuclear forces and gravity”.

Later, talking to Daily Times, Murtaza expressed his dissatisfaction with the quality of work and the promotion of scientific education in the country. He said although the Higher Education Commission (HEC) was doing its best to promote the science culture in Pakistan but yet there were no well-qualified staff in the field of physics.

He criticised the government and the HEC regarding its policies about the higher education especially for PhD and MPhil level and suggested to provide more foreign scholarships to the students who could serve the country in best way in the same field in future.

Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) Professor Dr Amer Iqbal paid tribute to Dr Salam by telling the professors and PhD scholars about his Electro-weak theory and its modern implications.

GCU Professor Hassan Ali Shah discussed the importance of unification in physics in reference to the Dr Abdus Salam’s theory.

Concluding the ceremony, GCU Urdu Department Professor Tariq Zaidi underlined the interest of Dr Abdus Salam in poetry and Urdu literature by reading some of the letters that he had written to his teachers and close friends.

Two PhD students of GCU Physics Department, Zeba Israr and Sajid Gilani said that “due to a lack of hi-tech equipments and up to date knowledge and skills, Pakistani researchers were backward in every field of science.”

Other students at the ceremony expressed their concern as to why a great hero and patriot of the nation had been forgotten.

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