Philosopher and academic Dr Manzoor Ahmad, who served as the dean of the University of Karachi’s (KU) faculty of arts, chairperson of the KU philosophy department, vice chancellor of the Hamdard University and rector of the Usman Institute of Technology (UIT) University in his long academic career, passed away on Monday.
He was 91 years old and had been ill for many months. Many would remember him as a learned person who was frequently invited on the Pakistan Television as well as on private channels when they used to offer programmes about philosophy and critical thinking to discuss religious, political, social and literary issues. One of such PTV programmes was Sawal Yeh Hai.
Dr Abdul Wahab Suri, who currently teaches philosophy at the KU, said Dr Ahmad retired from the KU in 1991, after which he joined the Hamdard University as its vice chancellor. He later became patron of the UIT where he helped found a centre of social sciences.
He was also one of the founders of the Sindh Institute of Urology & Transplantation’s (SIUT) centre of bioethics. At the time of his death, he was holding the post of professor emeritus of the KU’s philosophy department.
Dr Suri said Dr Ahmed was a member of the circle of Prof Karar Hussain and like Prof Hussain, he would hold intellectual discussions where learned personality were invited to share their ideas.
Poet and scholar Ahmad Javaid expressed grief over the death of Dr Ahmed whom he recalled as an extremely cultured, erudite and humble person. The late academic had command over philosophy, religion and literature, Javaid said, adding that Prof Ahmed’s book on Iqbal offered deep critical insights into Iqbal’s works. He said Prof Ahmed was well aware of the contemporary philosophical currents and was a lover of Wittgenstein.
