Iqbal provides intellectual foundation for building peaceful world: Prof Sachs

ISLAMABAD, Mar 05 (APP): Poet-philosopher Allama Muhammad Iqbal provided the intellectual foundation for building a peaceful world based on the idea of global cooperation rather than dominance, said Professor Jeffrey Sachs while delivering the 2023 Iqbal Lecture at the University of Oxford.

The Oxford Pakistan Programme hosted the annual Allama Iqbal Lecture on Tuesday, March 2, 2023, with renowned economist and public intellectual, Professor Jeffrey Sachs, delivering a wide-ranging lecture on the “Geopolitics of peace” to a packed audience in Lady Margaret Hall in the University of Oxford, said a press release received here on Sunday.

He highlighted the significance of Allama Muhammad Iqbal’s intellectual thought, especially his vision for a world that was free of exploitation and based on justice and solidarity.
He described Iqbal as a man of peace who advocated cooperation and dialogue between civilizations.

Professor Sachs quoted the message delivered by Iqbal to Lahore radio station a few months before his death in 1938 in which he had argued that the ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity could not be realized unless we consider the whole world as one “family of God”.

The lecture attracted a large audience of Oxford students, senior academics and several heads of departments and faculties. The High Commissioner for Pakistan to United Kingdom, Moazzam Ahmad Khan, his wife, and guests from London were also in attendance.

On this occasion, Abdul Ghani Dadabhoy, the Executive Director of the Dadabhoy Foundation that sponsors the Allama Iqbal lecture series at the University of Oxford, stressed the need for dialogue and collaboration.
He reiterated the support of the Dadabhoy Foundation in facilitating such conversations and providing a platform to global experts, such as Prof Sachs, to share their knowledge and expertise.

The Oxford Pakistan Programme is a multi-pronged initiative that seeks to promote academic collaboration between the University of Oxford and Pakistan. The programme offers scholarships and research grants to Pakistan-origin students.

The Iqbal lecture was live streamed from Oxford to around 50 participating universities across Pakistan, a list that not only included the well-known universities such as LUMS and IBA but also higher education institutions in far-flung areas, such as Mardan’s Women’s University, the University of Turbat in Balochistan, and Karakoram University in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Commenting on the significance of this model of engagement, the Programme’s co-founders Professor Adeel Malik, Dr Talha Jamal Pirzada, and Haroon Zaman emphasized the need to make scholarly voices shaping the global discourse accessible to Pakistani students who would otherwise not be able to engage with such speakers.

The Iqbal lecture series, they highlighted, also played an important role in generating a holistic debate on the campus and in creating an important cultural bridge between Oxford and Pakistan.

The Iqbal lecture is held annually and aims to draw prominent scholars, intellectuals, and policymakers from around the world.

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