The Hindu : International : SAF plans centre for South Asian Studies in Lahore

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 11, 2005

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International

SAF plans centre for South Asian Studies in Lahore

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, FEB. 10. UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, Madanjeet Singh, today announced that the South Asia Foundation (SAF), a no-profit non-governmental organisation striving to build a youth movement, has decided to build an institute of South Asian Studies and a SAARC library at the Government College in Lahore.

He made the announcement after the Pakistan Foreign Minister, Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, approved the proposal and agreed that the old heritage site (originally used as a church) be restored.

The proposed project is part of the SAF's effort in building "million-dollar institutions of excellence" in all SAARC countries and Afghanistan. It is engaged in constructing the Madanjeet Singh Institute for Afghanistan's Culture Heritage in Kabul to restore relics damaged by the erstwhile Taliban with special focus on the Bamiyan Buddhas.

"We had an excellent hour-long meeting with Mr. Kasuri. I am glad to inform that he agreed to all the proposals and ideas of the Foundation. The Minister intends to inform Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf about the activities of SAF in the region," Mr. Singh told The Hindu .

Immediately after his interaction with Mr. Kasuri, Mr. Singh left for Lahore. He would visit the Government College of Lahore to discuss the details about the proposed centre.

On February 13, Mr. Singh would leave for Chennai to visit the Asian College of Journalism, SAF's "million-dollar institution of excellence" in India.

Founded in 2000 by Mr. Singh, SAF is a voluntary, secular, no-profit and non-political youth movement. It is run on contribution made by him from his family fortune. Mr. Singh, a shareholder in a software company owned by his son, sold his shares and decided to put the money for the welfare of youth in South Asia.

Mr. Singh says: "Some people do wonder why I am spending all that money on promoting regional cooperation. They could not understand why someone would give away all he had for a cause. Since I was a member of Indian Foreign Service, some have even insinuated that SAF is a `front' funded by India. But I am not deterred in my mission."

The cardinal objective of SAF is to promote regional cooperation and peace through education, mutual understanding and creative friendship among the people of South Asia. Its aims, objectives and activities are in conformity with the spirit, purpose and principles of the SAARC Charter.

Since the First SAF General Conference in Kathmandu from December 11-12, 2001, inaugurated by the then Prime Minister of Nepal, Sher Bahadur Deuba, SAF has come a long way in developing and expanding grassroots-level educational programmes. The launching of the Post-Graduate Diploma course in Environment and Sustainable Development, jointly designed by South Asian Open Universities, at the Third SAF General Conference in New Delhi from December 14-15, 2003, is a landmark in the field of distance learning.

The conference is also important because some 3,000 scholarships in a phased programme will be available to disadvantaged students both in higher education and vocational training.

SAF has succeeded in enlarging its regional dimension and sphere of cooperation by including Afghanistan as its eighth chapter. Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan President, nominated Sayed Makhdoum Raheen, Minister of Culture and Information, to be the Chairperson of SAF-Afghanistan.

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