HYDERABAD: A seminar was held at the University of Sindh to pay tribute to the Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah on his 142nd birth anniversary, observe d across the country on Tues day.

The event was organised by SU`s Pakistan Study Centre.

Speaking to the audience, former culture secretary Gul Mohammad Umrani, who was the chief guest, said that the Quaid-i-Azam gave the nation a priceless present in the form of an independent sovereign state. `Without this great gift, we would not have been able to breathe in a free environment. We take special pride in the fact that the Quaid-i-Azam was born in Sindh, Umrani said.

SU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Fateh Mohammad Burfat described the Quaid-i-Azam as a man of extraordinary calibre.He said Jinnah was highly intelligent and articulate man who dealt with British and Congress on his own terms and won the most monumental case, Pakistan. He said that emergence of Pakistan on the world map as a result of the Quaid`s leadership qualities was a role model for Muslim nations to emulate.

He said that the Quaid had a revolutionary agenda for transformation of Pakistan`s education standards. `The most practical and wisest way for us will be to act upon his vision and overhaul the national education plan. This alone will lead us to emancipation from ills,` said the VC.

Pakistan Study Centre director Prof Dr Shuja Ahmed Mahesar said that effective social reforms in the country would only be possible after they were practised on forwarded principles of faith, discipline and unity.

Prof Lal Bux Jiskani said that culture, along with religious faith servedas core channels of interpersonal, interprovincial and international integration. He stressed the need for using culture to seek increased national integration in given challenging national context.

Dean Faculty of Social Sciences at the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST) Dr Riaz Ahmed Shaikh said that the Quaid had given them greatest gift of Pakistan. He called for eradication of poverty, illiteracy, inequality, diseases, terrorism, extremism, intolerance and gender bias from the country to make it stronger.

Jamshoro SSP Taugeer Naeem also spoke. Students Mohammad Younis Keerio and Irfana Abdul Jabbar presentednationalsongs.

Dean faculty of social sciences at SZABIST, Karachi, Dr Riaz Ahmed Shaikh, researcher Prof Lal Bux Jiskani and others attended the function.