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Sunday, Aug 26, 2007
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Make Islamic varsity a national venture: Minister

Shujaat Bukhari

Jairam Ramesh

SRINAGAR: Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh has called for making the Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST) a national venture. He also accepted an offer to be a visiting professor at the university beginning October 1.

During his visit to the IUST at Awantipore in south Kashmir on Friday, Mr. Ramesh said a new direction was being given to education in the university. It would set a healthy trend in the rest of the world by using Islam as a platform to sift through the advancements in technology and science.

“Integrating Islam with science and technology and making the students dependent on laptops and Wi-Fi facility, that too in a remote area in Kashmir, is something which needs to be supported from all sides,” he said. This was the best answer to any kind of alienation in Kashmir. Giving IUST Vice Chancellor Siddique Wahid the credit for introducing new education culture in Kashmir, he said this should be treated as a national venture but outside the government.

For achieving that goal, the Minister has already begun the work to rope in country’s leading business tycoons to help the university become a centre of excellence. “I have approached Sunil Mittal, Ratan Tata, Azim Premji and Narayana Murthy besides the Ford Foundation and the Agha Khan Foundation to help this project. The response is encouraging.” Mr. Ramesh said that this was the best way to win the hearts and minds of the people in troubled Kashmir. He also had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Science Technology Minister Kapil Sibal, who had promised to give a boost to the university.

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