KARACHI: The Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the University of Karachi (KU) Prof. Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi on Thursday visited the newly renovated Chinese Teachers Memorial Auditorium.
The Pakistani Director of the Confucius Institute for the Chinese Language at KU Prof. Dr Nasir Uddin Khan, registrar, deans, chairpersons, and heads of different offices were also present on this occasion.
The KU VC Prof. Dr Khalid Iraqi along with others observe one minute of silence while standing up from their seats to pay tribute to the deceased Chinese teachers. A short video in memory of Chinese teachers was also played on the screen.
On this occasion, the Dean of Arts and Social Sciences Prof. Dr Shaista Tabassum welcomed the visitors and briefed them about the development of the recently renovated auditorium.
She said that the Arts Auditorium, which was later, called the Arts and Social Sciences Auditorium, has been named after the Chinese academics including CI Director and teachers who lost their lives on April 26, 2022, on the campus in a suicide bomb attack.
She further said that soon we will resume arranging and organizing events at the auditorium and hoped that teachers and faculties who will engage in this place will also take good care of it.
Meanwhile, Prof. Dr Nasir Khan shared that our friendship with China is unconditional and both countries truly love and support each other in difficult times.
He said that the provincial government was interested in renaming the arts and social sciences auditorium to acknowledge the services of the Chinese teachers at the campus and the KU administration was also planning to pay rich tribute to them.
He mentioned that in memory of the contribution of the CI Director and teachers, the matter was placed in the syndicate meeting which approved the idea, after which the up-gradation work was started and completed within a short span of time.
Dr Khalid Iraqi said that we will officially inaugurate the renovated auditorium with the Chinese council general and officials in the near future. He shared that faculty, employees, and students have been witnessing many changes in the campus, and added that the newly constructed building of the School of Law is one of the major developments that occurred in the recent past.
He said that we have recently handover a new building to the Visual Center to run one of the departments. The KU VC Professor Dr Khalid Iraqi said that he has directed the engineering department and one of the faculty members to initiate a survey regarding the infrastructure of academic as well as residential zones and submit a comprehensive report about what measures would be required to address problems faced by students, faculties and residential areas.
He shared that a letter has been sent to the Sindh government to help in developing a few new departments and buildings as well as improve the conditions of houses that exist on the university premises.
Prof. Dr Khalid Iraqi Chinese Teachers Memorial Auditorium is a very historic place for all of us and that is why we have not made major changes in its basics.
He mentioned that the unfortunate incident had shocked everyone and he along with Professor Dr Nasir Khan, had met the widow of the Chinese CI Director and condoled the demise of her husband.