MIANWALI: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairperson Imran Khan said on Sunday that his party’s vision was to set up colleges on the pattern of the Namal College across the country to impart good quality education to the youth.
Addressing the college’s annual convocation, Imran said that the only way forward for Pakistanis was acquiring education and employment.
“Pakistanis are suffering from an inferiority complex as we are lagging behind. Nowadays, we seem inspired by Western culture. When people see someone successful, they try to imitate them. We copy their dress and think that we can be successful like them. The result is that we become their slaves. We should never forget what our roots are.”
Talking about what can be done to address the lack of progress, Imran said that Pakistanis needed to dream first in order to do something big. “Pakistan was also the result of a dream. People thought Pakistan would never come into existence. Until you have determination and perseverance, you can’t be successful.”
He talked about the importance of never giving up. “I was also made fun of. When I lost in the 1997 elections, funds stopped coming in for Shaukat Khanum Hospital. I was told to quit politics. If I had done that, PTI would never have been born. Whenever you do something new, people will say you are crazy,” he said.
Imran said that 95 percent of the graduating students have landed good jobs. “Pakistan’s biggest problem is unemployment. To address that, we need to impart education through colleges that enable them to get jobs. We need to set up colleges like Namal in rural areas as well,” he said.
He talked about how people from rural areas migrated to urban settings in an attempt to succeed. “This creates an imbalance between rural and urban settings. Our vision is to set up such colleges and universities across Pakistan,” he said.
The PTI chief further promised that a multi-purpose sports stadium would be set up at Namal for students as well as the locals of Mianwali. “We will also set up a [good] quality hospital in the area over a piece of land nearby,” he said, adding that a medical college would then be established.
He also congratulated the faculty, students and parents for the outstanding results the varsity produced.
Imran Khan said on Sunday that 70 per cent of the country’s population was under 35 and they had turned slaves to the western culture.
Imran said the country’s youth was confused and misguided because they felt left behind in comparison with the rest of the world. He asserted that he would burn his boats to meet the goal.
“People below the age of 35 constitute some 70 percent of population of Pakistan and the youth has fallen prey to foreign culture.
“A donkey cannot be turned into a zebra if a pattern is drawn on his skin. The nation is troubled in the present times as people are impressed with culture of the West,” he said.
Published in Daily Times, November 13th 2017.
