The University of Karachi during a meeting approved the restructuring of the Institute of Central and West Asian Studies in the Department of History. The meeting was chaired by the KU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi, who termed that this is a much-needed step and appreciated the efforts being made to revive the effective research institute.
He congratulated the team for reorganizing a historical research institute. He expressed that the Institution which was established under the patronage of great dignitaries needs to work from the history department once again.
The KU VC Professor Khalid Iraqi mentioned that the old building of the ICWAS should be renovated at the earliest and assured the participants his full cooperation in this regard. The meeting was held at the Seminar Library of the Department of History.
On this occasion, it was announced that Professor Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui would be the new president of the ICWAS while Dr Jaffar Ahmed was appointed as its vice president, Dr Nasreen Afzal was elected as the secretary and Sultan Chawala and Dr Hina as the treasurer and joint secretary respectively. Meanwhile, five elected members of the working committee ICWAS include Dr Noreen Mujahid, Dr Sohail Shafiq, Dr Danish Pirzada, Dr Javed Hussain, and Dr Raza Kazmi.
The participants of the meeting were informed that the eminent scholars of Pakistan played a major role in the establishment of the Institute of Central and West Asian Studies and noteworthy personalities like Dr Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi, Dr Abul Lais Siddiqui, Dr Riaz-ul-Islam, Hakim Mohammad Said and Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui were involved in establishing the ICWAS.
They were also informed that on the directives of Dr Riaz-ul-Islam the ICWAS started from a room located in the history department and soon became one of the best institutions in the world.
The ex-VC KU Professor Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui said that the restructuring of the Institution is a matter of urgency and keeping in view the current international situation, the importance of the institution has been doubled. He believes that the ICWAS would provide a good environment and library for students.
Eminent social scientist Dr Jafar Ahmed, while highlighting the scholarly services of the ICWAS, said that without the support of KU VC Professor Dr Khalid Iraqi, it would not have been possible for the Institute to function again from the same room of history in which Dr Riaz-ul-Islam hold research activities for four decades.
He also congratulated all the teachers of the Department of History and said that it would help the department of history and faculty of arts and social sciences in organizing conferences and seminars on various related to central and western Asian topics as well as promote research culture related to these regions.
