Historians Moot Organized by the National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research, QAU

Despite being an elite and classical subject, history is not being given the importance it should have been accorded to in our country hence it became a neglected subject.

This was the crux of the discussion at the historians moot organized by the National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad here on Thursday.

Over 100 prominent historians, university and college teachers belonging to Islamabad and Rawalpindi region attended the one-day moot.

The QAU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Javed Ashraf, who was the chief guest, said that the QAU is conducting a very high quality of research at the M.Phil and PhD levels. One of its report, the American newspaper News & the World Report has ranked QAU one of the top ranking universities amongst 500 universities of the world, he recalled.

Responding to one of the points raised by the NIHCR Director Prof Dr Sayed Wiqar Ali Shah, the QAU VC assured the historians that he would try his level best to secure maximum scholarships from the HEC and other international institutions for the university junior faculty and students in general and the students of history department in particular for promotion of teaching and research in history.

In his welcome address, the NIHCR Director Prof Dr Sayed Wiqar Ali Shah disclosed that the moot was just a beginning to have views of the historians and the history teachers of the twin cities universities and colleges to work in unison for the promotion of the history discipline.

He briefed the participants about the history of the NIHCR, particularly mentioning its prestigious place during the 1970s. It was initially National Commission on Historical and Cultural Research established in 1973 to promote the history and culture of Pakistan. Due to some unexplained reasons the commission was dissolved and the status of the NIHCR was reduced to mere an institute later on.

Dr Shah said the moot was aimed at discussing the role of historians in the present changing environment; to strengthen the discipline of history; to identify research areas and to facilitate research and development in the domain of historical research.

He said the participants’ proposals would help advance the discipline of history in the larger national interest, which would ultimately pave the way for exploring new avenues in research in history by providing a platform to historians to share their knowledge for the greater benefit of the history teachers, scholars, researchers and students alike.

The moot also passed a resolution moved by Syed Umar Hayat, Senior Research Fellow which resolved to set up a forum for the historians of Pakistan to oversee research and development in the discipline of history.