By Prof. Dr.I. R. Durrani
Prof Dr Nizamuddin is a man of iron clad discipline, inexhaustible patience, colossal ideas and insatiable illusions
His devotion is to his word. His power is of seduction. He goes to seek out problems where they are. The impetus of inspiration is very much part of his style. Invincible patience. Iron clad discipline . The force of his imagination stretches him to the unforeseen.The essence of his own thinking could lie in the certainty that in undertaking academic work, it is fundamental to be concerned about individuals. That could explain his absolute confidence in direct contact. He has a language for each occasion and a distinct means of persuasion according to his interlocutors. He knows how to put himself; at the level of each one , and possesses a vast and varied knowledge that allows him to move with facility in any media. One thing is definite: he is where he is, how he is and with whom he is. Prof Dr. Nizamuddin, our [UOG] Vice Chancellor is there to win. His attitude in the face of defeat , even in the most minimal actions of every day life , would seem to obey private logic; he does not even admit it, and does not have a minute’s peace until he succeeds in inverting the terms and converting it into victory.
His supreme aide is his memory and he uses it , to the point of abuse, to sustain speeches or private conversation with overwhelming reasoning and arithmetical operations, of an incredible rapidity. He requires incessant information , well masticated and digested. Responses have to be exact , given that he is capable of discovering the most minimal contradiction in casual phrase. He is a voracious reader of papers and faces alike.
He does not lose any occasion to inform himself . His vision of the future integrated with an autonomous community is capable of moving destinies. Nizam Sahib knows Pakistan inside out, although he has more affinity with the US, where he has profitably spent most of his professional career; he knows the Pakistani people, their power structures , the secondary intentions of the governments; all this has helped him to handle the incessant torment of blockade.
He has never refused to answer any question, however, provocative it might be , nor has he ever lost his patience. In terms of those who are economical with the truth , in order not to give him any more concerns than those he already has: he knows it. But gravest are the truths concealed to cover up deficiencies , because alongside the enormous achievements that sustain the office of the Vice Chancellor, there is a colossal bureaucratic incompetence , affecting daily life , and particular domestic happiness.
When he talks with the students and ordinary workers in the University, his conversation regains expressiveness and crude frankness of genuine affection. They call him Nizam Sahib . They address him informally , they argue with him, they claim him. It is then that one discovers the unusual human being that the reflection of his own image does not let us see. This is the Nizam Sahib, that I believe I know. A man of austere habits and insatiable illusions , with an old fashioned formal education of cautious words and subdued tones, and incapable of conceiving any idea that is not colossal. The University of Gujrat is fortunate that the benediction in the form of the presence of Nizam Sahib will continue for a further four years. One can only wonder , what miracles will be wrought in the time to come!
Related: UOG
Author: Dr. I. R. Durrani is Director, faculty of Basic Sciences in University of Gujrat.