Some Golden Jubilee Thoughts by Cdre
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Some Golden Jubilee Thoughts by Cdre. Muhammad Abid Saleem SI(M), Principal, Cadet College Petaro as-salamu alaykum I just cannot express my true exhilaration at the fact that the honourable President of Pakistan has chosen to be amongst us on this unique occasion of the Golden Jubilee of Cadet College Petaro. I would like to thank him on behalf of the management of this college and on behalf of all the cadets and all Petarians for this noble gesture. This will be a day for us to remember and will go down in the history of this institution as another key turning point. Gentlemen, we have turned fifty. Happy Fiftieth Birthday to us - that is, to this great college, to all staff members, to all cadets, and all ex-cadets. We are the GOLDEN PETARIANS finally. This has been a long march for us - through every season and through the rough and difficult times too. This college was built in 1957 at Mirpurkhas and then moved to this location in 1959 when the initial buildings of this campus were barely constructed and the land was in floods. We had a rough beginning, but with the Grace of Allah we made it. It was the vision of the then Hyderabad Director of Education, Mr. A.M. Nizamani with the sanction of Mr. M. Ayub Khuhro, the Defence Minister of Pakistan, that made this college into a reality. On this occasion, I would like to pay my humble tribute and pray for the souls of both Mr. A.M. Nizamani and Mr. Ayub Khuhro, who are no longer with us in this world. They had the vision and the others who followed them in guiding and managing this college over these fifty years have lived up to their expectations to make this into a great institution. In particular sir, I would like to mention the passionate (late) Colonel Coombes who was the first full-time Principal of this college. It was his sheer love for this college - which was almost to the point of madness - that set the standard and the pace for all future work at this institution. His hard work with dedication paid off. The Pakistani principals who followed him kept up the tradition, and guided all the staff members accordingly. These included Cdr. Firoz Shah, Mr. S.S. Azim, late Capt.PN Shukruddin, Cdr. Asrarullah, late Capt.PN Amin Khan, late Cdre. S.I. Malik, and Cdre. S.Q. Raza. My address today would have been incomplete if I had not mentioned these great stalwarts who ensured the place of this college on the map of Pakistan. And they had the finest of staff members, who worked hand in glove with them as a tremendous team. We have prepared a set of books on this auspicious occasion, which will give all you a pretty good idea about this college and its developments over the past 50 years. I hope you will keep these as a memento and as a constant remembrance of this great institution for all times to come. The college was built to produce the finest young Pakistanis who would serve this country in every sphere of life with excellence. Being a cadet college, there was a planned focus on encouraging young boys from rural Sindh to enter the armed forces, while leaving options open for them to pursue their careers in government, business, engineering, medicine, and other professions. By the Grace of Allah, we have succeeded as you see eminent Petarians in almost every walk of life in Pakistan and overseas. The college started with humble beginnings, admitting only 30 cadets in the first year at Mirpurkhas. With rapid construction of facilities, the population of cadets rose to over 540 by the mid-1960s. Currently, we have 880 cadets studying at the college - making Cadet College Petaro to be the largest of the cadet colleges in Pakistan today. With the construction of the eighth house that is planned, this college will have a capacity of over 1,000 boys. During these past 50 years, nearly 7,200 cadets have passed through our corridors. Of these, nearly 20% entered the armed forces, and 15-20% went abroad to acquire higher education. The Petarian presence on the Pakistani political scene and in government services is clear evidence of our service orientation. Cadet College Petaro’s education is based on discipline and strong values. At every stage, a Petarian is imbibed with values that are required for success in their future destinies. The boys are groomed to acquire professional ethics, discipline and leadership qualities, which are combined with strong academic skills and physical education and sports to make them prepared to be amongst the best. I am proud to say that despite the erosion in the quality of education in Pakistan over these decades, we have tried to keep up our standards through dedication and devotion. I would like to emphasize that the staff members of this institution and its employees are the ones that make the difference. I would like to salute these unnamed thousands of men and women who have been the foundation and pillars of this institution over this past half a century. This place was a desert in 1957, inhabited primarily by snakes and scorpions. Today, it is a garden town with many facilities and villages in the vicinity. This college has contributed tremendously towards development of this part of Sindh, and we hope that future developments will make this into a prosperous area. It is our desire to have a world class technical university built in this vicinity which will provide vertical possibilities for our cadets in their career paths. Of course, such an institution will also become a source of higher education possibilities for all Pakistanis. We are fortunate that METUPAK Foundation has been able to conclude an MOU with Middle East Technical University, which is the finest technical university in the region to provide technical expertise and manpower. I am hopeful and confident that the government of Pakistan will endorse and support this project. It will be a great honour for all of us Petarians, and for me personally as well upon my exit from Petaro after these fruitful seven years. It would be out of place if I did not mention the tremendous support this college has received from the government of Sindh under the able leadership of Dr. Arbab Ghulam Rahim, who is himself a product of Petaro. His unstinting love for his alma mater is admirable and shows his great qualities. I have experienced this myself during my 7 seven years as Principal and Commandant of this college, when we have seen massive developments at this college in every sphere. I am also grateful to him for his support in ensuring that the land of this college is legally secure and free from encroachments. This is a national asset, and shall remain so. In addition, our Petarian ministers Mr. Liaquat Ali Jatoi and Ch. Nauraiz Shakoor have always supported this college in various ways. Amongst our ex-cadets, Lt. Gen. S.P. Shahid has been a source of massive support to us at every stage. His latest support is in the form of the Citizens Foundation School that has been set up. Over these years, the college has received massive support from the pioneers of Petarian unity. In particular, I would like to thank Dr. Hadi Bux Jatoi (kit no. 171), Mr. Bashiruddin Memon (kit no. 63), Cdre.(R) Mirza Ashfaque Beg (kit no. 69), and Mr. Noor Ahmed Nizamani (kit no. 7). I am unable to name every single Petarian who has dedicated his time and money for the sake of this institution. There are tens if not hundreds of them. I salute each and every one of them, and I hope they will excuse me for not mentioning their names individually. It is their love and strong ties of brotherhood and fraternity that makes us into a unique community. However, I would like to mention that Petarians have done a great job of keeping their brotherhood strong. Several Petarian organizations sprung up over these decades that have engendered a strong sense of Petarian-ism. Starting with the Petaro Old Boys Association in the 1960s, we evolved into the Petarian Association of Karachi which celebrated it Silver Jubilee in 2006. The role of the Petarian Association in bringing Petarians on one platform must be appreciated. Petarians have also been grouping together in other cities of Pakistan like Hyderabad, Islamabad, Lahore, Sukkur, and Quetta. It is pleasing to note that the overseas Petarians have also organized themselves as well. In particular, I would like to mention PANA (North America), PASA (Saudi Arabia), and PAE (Europe). As we have grown of age, the Board of Governors of the college has decided to establish the CCP Alumni Association (CCPAA), which will truly play the role of the central focal point for all Petarians. All Petarians will automatically be members of the CCPAA. I would like to encourage all Petarians to actively support CCPAA so that we can forge stronger ties between the college and its alumni for the benefit of the college, the Petarians and this nation. The Petarian Foundation has also played an exemplary role as an NGO aimed at service of Petaro and Petarians. I am indeed grateful to the Foundation for having provided Scholarships to Petarian cadets for the past 3 years, Scholarships for ex-cadets for past 3 years, Teacher Training programs over the past 2 years, Hajj sponsorship of a college employee this year, and welfare fund for Petarians and college employees.