Soz hails Nawaz Sharif's move to rename dept in Pak Varsity

The decision by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to rename the Physics department of a leading university after the country's only Nobel laureate scientist Abdus Salam is a "bold" one in a country where Ahmaddiya community is dubbed as 'non-Muslims', Congress leader Saifuddin Soz said today.
"This move is seen by the civil society of Pakistan as a bold decision and for liberal society there, it is a heart- warming celebration," he said while reacting on the development.
Salam happened to be the only person in Pakistan to have received Nobel Prize for Physics, but Pakistan had never celebrated this prestigious award as many people held the extreme view that he was an Ahmadiyya, said the former Union Minister.

Sharif has give in-principle approval for the renaming of National Centre for Physics at Quaid-i-Azam University (Islamabad) as 'Professor Abdus Salam Center for Physics'.
"Needless to mention it here that declaration of Ahmadiyyas as non-Muslims by General Zia-ul-Haq, the then President of Pakistan on 26 April 1984 caused very bad publicity for Pakistan abroad where Prof. Abdus Salam was seen as good a Pakistani as any other person," Soz said.
He said while an overwhelming majority of civil society in Pakistan has appreciated Sharif's move, "the extreme religious elements have already raised a hue and cry against this gesture, which is unfortunate".