By Ajmal Khan Yousafzai
SARGODHA: President and Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Mail and Chairman of Pakistan-China Media Friendship Association, Makhdoom Babar paid a special trip to city of Sargodha, yesterday. The visit was actually made to deliver media gears, essential medicines and essential food supplies to the Chinese teachers, based at University of Sargodha’s Chinese language department, to meet the special requirements during the COVID-19 spread.
According to details, President of The Daily Mail was approached by the Islamabad-based journalists that two of the Chinese teachers who were placed officially at University of Sargodha for initiating Chinese Language process were out of masks, medicines and some other essential items of daily use, including food stuff but since there was a soft lockdown and transportation & cargo as well as courier services were suspended, as process to combat the Coronavirus spread, it was not possible to dispatch the said supplies to them at Sargodha. DM Chief was also informed that the said Chinese teachers were also not able to make these purchases in Sargodha city due to the lockdown and other safety reasons.
Upon this the DM Chief Mr. Makhdoom Babar, who also hails from Sargodha city, decided to himself embark upon the mission, to ensure safe and speedy delivery of the essential supplies to Chinese teachers.
“Not only that these Chinese teachers are honorable guests of Pakistan but since they are in my hometown, it makes it my added responsibility to reach out to them and deliver the required stuff to them personally’, Mr. Makhdoom told this scribe.
Since Sargodha University is following strict safety and security protocols which prevent entry of unauthorized outsiders to the University Premises, the Vice Chancellor of the University Dr. Ishtiaq Ahmed was approached by The Daily Mail, who very pleasingly facilitated the delivery process of supplies to Chinese teachers inside the University premises.
During meeting with the DM Chief, the Vice Chancellor of Sargodha University thanked Mr. Makhdoom for adding another milestone to Pakistan-China Friendship by risking his personal health safety, travelling all the way from Islamabad to deliver the essential supplies to the Chinese teachers at Sargodha. He informed The Daily Mail that this year, Sargodha University and China’s Hainan Normal University were collaborating to start Confucius Centre at University of Sargodha and the Chinese teachers were in the University to lay the foundations of that project. He further told this scribe that University of Sargodha was focusing on people to people and particularly students to students contact between Pakistan and China and many projects had been launched or were in the pipeline. He said that projects of bringing the youth of the two countries closer through extracurricular activities were also under serious consideration.
Chinese teachers also thanked The Daily Mail and Mr. Makhdoom and said such gestures by individuals of both countries were the core force behind China and Pakistan, being Iron Brothers. The extended sincere wishes for quick relief of Pakistani nation from the COVI-19 spread and said they wish that just like China and Chinese nation succeeded in defeating the virus attack, Pakistan and Pakistani nation will also soon be able to achieve the same victory against the deadly virus.
