Pakistan Dawn editorial targets Pakistani govt for investing less in promoting scientific thinking
Islamabad: Pakistan-origin quantum astrophysicist Dr Nergis Mavalvala, who belongs to the minor Parsi community, was recently named the new dean of the MIT School of Science but a leading newspaper of the nation criticised the government pointing out that it is her 'own' achievement as the country never promoted scientific thinking.
In its editorial published on Aug 20, Pakistan's leading newspaper Dawn said Mavalvala received her early education in Pakistan.
"She and several others like her reached the high positions they did through their own efforts and opportunities presented to them in other countries," read the editorial.
Slamming the Pakistani government, the editorial said: "Unfortunately, Pakistan has done little to invest in the sciences or to promote scientific thinking."
"So while we celebrate Dr Mavalvala’s achievements, we must ask ourselves: had Dr Mavalvala continued to study and work in Pakistan, would she have been able to reach the position she is in today? Would she have the space or resources to carry out her breakthrough scientific work here?" the editorial questioned.
Dawn editorial said Pakistan never celebrated the achievement of Nobel Prize winner Dr Abdus Salam.
"Like Dr Mavalvala, he belonged to a religious minority community. In 1979, Dr Salam won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the electroweak unification theory that implies the existence of the ‘God particle’ which was subsequently discovered at CERN in 2012," the editorial said.
"Whether his brilliance was ever truly understood and celebrated in his home country is debatable, and that is Pakistan’s tragedy," the newspaper editorial said.
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