Former
Secretary General Foreign Affairs, Senator Akram Zaki has said that
Western Civilizations have attained remarkable progress in all spheres
due to their advancements in science and technology. Mr. Zaki said this
while addressing a two- day international conference on “Modern
Civilizations: Convergence or Divergence,” held in Islamabad. The
conference was organized by the Society of Asian Civilizations in
collaboration with Preston University and National Institute of Cultural
Studies (NICS), Islamabad.
In his keynote address on the occasion, as chief guest, Senator Akram
Zaki congratulated the Society of Asian Civilizations, Preston
University and NICS for organizing the international conference to
commemorate the Decade of Civilization (2010). He said the topic of the
conference is of immense importance to the entire world as rapid changes
were taking place on all fronts, and the West is making all out efforts
to play a dominating role in every sphere.
In his presentation on the occasion, Prof. Dr. Tahir Amin of the
International Relations Department of Quaid-e-Azam University
highlighted the significance of the topic “modern civilization,” and how
to define civilization. He maintained that Civilization is a broader,
more global concept, so we should not only concentrate on cultural and
religious civilizations, but also consider the concept of global or
modern civilizations, he added.
In his enlightening and thought provoking discourse on the subject, the
Chancellor of Preston University, Dr. Abdul Basit said that a comparison
of the last 200-300 years would reveal that the political, military and
economic forces played an important role in creating a modern
civilization. Further elucidating his thoughts on the subject, Dr. Basit
stated that, in his view, the Chinese civilization will rule over all
others during the next 50-100 years. His views were endorsed by Senator
Akram Zaki who said that the Chinese would have greater influence in the
coming years over other civilizations due to its rapid economic,
scientific, industrial and technological developments.
Eminent among the speakers who addressed the first academic session of
the conference were Ambassador of Islamic Republic of Iran in Pakistan,
H.E. Mashallah Shakeri, Dr. Shamim Mehmood Zaidi, Chairperson Department
of Communication, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Prof. Viachaslau
Menkouski, from the Department of History, Belarusian State University,
Dr. M. Iqbal Bhutta, from the Department of Archaeology,
Hyderabad-Sindh, and Prof. Dr. Anis Ahmed, Vice Chancellor, Ripha
International University. The session was chaired by the Ambassador of
the Islamic Republic of Iran, H.E. Mashallah Shakeri.
The second academic session was chaired by the Vice Chancellor of
Preston University-Kohat Prof. Dr. Muhammad Anwar Hassan. Eminent among
those who presented papers were Mr. Yar Muhammad Badini,
Editor-in-Chief, Balochistan Today, Dr. Muhammad Hamid, Executive
Director, Zawiya Academy and Dr. Khurran Qadir, Director National
Institute of Historical and Cultural Research, Quaid-e-Azam University. |
