HYDERABAD, April 11: Allama I.I. Kazi, the great scholar and founder of the University of Sindh, who had been living in England for 30 years, forsook the life of luxury and comfort and came back to serve his homeland in 1950 on the request of then Sindh government, said the first professor of the university Dr. N.A. Baloch on Friday.

Mr Baloch said while presiding over a seminar on “Allama I.I. Kazi and his Thoughts” organised by the Faculty of Islamic Studies as part of the university’s Founder’s Week celebrations he said that Allama Sahib came here to serve his compatriots particularly people of Sindh.

He said that after accepting the challenge of creating a university from scratch Allama shifted its campus from Karachi to Hyderabad and devoted his time to its development.

He said that he was the first professor appointed by Allama I.I. Kazi in the university. He had seen vice-chancellors of other universities like Bombay University and Columbia University but none equalled Allama Sahib.

Allama, in pursuance of his dream about building the country through quality education, set up department of education, library and printing press in the university, which were unheard of in universities in 1951, he recalled.

The public sector universities at that time like Aligarah University, Bombay, Calcutta and other Indian universities were mere examination-conducting institutions but Allama was the first vice-chancellor who introduced the concept of a teaching university with residential campus for scholars, he said.

He said that Allama appointed teachers of very high calibre like Dr Ghulam Mustafa Khan for Urdu, Kazi Mian Akhtar for history and many others. “We must feel proud that we are teaching as well as studying in the university, which was established by Allama I.I. Kazi,” Dr Baloch said.

Vice-Chancellor Dr Mazharul Haq Siddiqui said that Allama Sahib was a great teacher whose life was a role model shaped by the teachings of the holy Quran. Allama’s concept about the university was an institution of excellence uniting all branches of knowledge.He said that the Allama was a great scholar, a Sufi and a real follower of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai who had command over multi disciplines.

Dr S.M. Saeed, former head of the Department of Islamic Culture said in his lecture on Allama’s vision on education that Allama always laid emphasis on teachers’ training and believed that today’s students were leaders of the tomorrow, therefore, they needed proper education and attention.

Noted scholar Shoukat Kazi said that Allama was a bridge between the East and the West. He was an international scholar and Sindh’s identity on global level, he said.

Dr Kazi Khadim Hussain, former dean of Faculty of Arts, Dr Sanaullah Bhutto, dean of Faculty of Islamic Studies, deans of various faculties, faculty members and students from different institutes and departments, educationists and intellectuals from many parts of the country attended the seminar.