KARACHI: A condolence reference was held at the Arts Council on Thursday evening in memory of Prof Mohammad Ajmal Khan, the late vice chancellor of Karachi University (KU), where speakers described him as an eminent educationist, a noted botanist and a great human being.

Prof Khan was the 17th vice chancellor of KU.

He assumed charge of the varsity in January 2017.

Praising Prof Khan`s services, Mohammad Ahmad Shah, the president of the Arts Council, said that the very existence of a society was dependent on people like Prof Khan whose dedication towards his students couldn`t be measured in a few sentences.

`Our society is surviving because of the hard work of people like Prof Ajmal Khan. The main purpose of this event is to remember people who have been putting in a lot of efforts in the field of education for the country`s betterment,` Mr Shah said.

Sharing his memories, Prof Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui, Vice Chancellor of Ziauddin University and a former KU VC, said that Prof Khan belonged to a middle-class family yet he was able to rise and achieve excellence purely on the basis of his hard work.

Secretary Arts Council of Pakistan Ejaz Ahmed Faroogi said that Prof Ajmal had immense interest in literature which led to his great relationshipwith the Arts Council.

`Prof Ajmal was a member of the Arts Council and a regular [at] various literary programmes,` he said.

Prof Khalid Mahmood Iraqi, the current KU Vice Chancellor, also spoke highly of the late professor and said he was a prominent part of Karachi University.

`He wanted to make the university the best for which he worked with a strong commitment. The university will always remember him,` he said, adding that the late professor received numerous prestigious local and international awards for his outstanding servicesin plantsciences.

Dr Aliya Imam described Prof Khan`s passing away as a great loss for society and regretted that it couldn`t take proper advantage of his knowledge and experience when he was alive.

Prof Bilguees Gul, the wife of the late professor and director of KU`s Institute of Halophyte Utilisation, shared her memories with the audience and said that Prof Khan`s whole life was a struggle and an example proving that consistent hard work eventually paid of f.

`He always believed in merit and never compromised on that,` she remarked.

Mishal Khan, daughter of Prof Khan, said that he might not be with us physically but he would always be among us through his remarkable work.

Sardar Yasin Malik, Munawwar Rasheed, Dr Tauseef Ahmed Khan, Dr Fayyaz and Dr Irfan also spoke.