GCU student wins Rhodes Scholarship 2013

Lahore, A student of Government College University GCU Lahore Political Science Department has won Rhodes Scholarship 2013 to study at Oxford University, UK. Rafiullah Kakar belongs to a remote village of Balochistan is 2013 Rhodes Scholar for Pakistan.

Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Khaleeq-ur-Rahman Thursday hosted a ceremony at GCU Fazl-e-Hussain Reading Room in the honor of his shinning student, who has won the international praise.

Political Science Department Chairperson Dr Khalid Manzoor Butt was also present. The Rhodes Scholarships are given to one Pakistani every year since 1951. Addressing the ceremony, Rafiullah Kakar said GCU was watershed in his life which opened the windows of his mind. He chose ethnic politics and religious extremism in Pakistan as his academic area of interest.

He said that he had expected GCU's academic life to be tough, but when he realized he was cruising in academics while being active in extracurricular activities, he had decided to challenge himself, said the spokesman..

The Rhodes Scholarships are postgraduate awards supporting outstanding all-round students at the University of Oxford, and providing transformative opportunities for brilliant individuals. 

Established in 1903 under the will of Cecil Rhodes, the Rhodes is the oldest and perhaps the most prestigious international graduate scholarship program in the world. A class of 83 Scholars is selected each year from Australia, Bermuda, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica and Commonwealth Caribbean, Kenya, New Zealand, Pakistan, Southern Africa (including South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, and Swaziland), United States, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Rhodes's vision in founding the Scholarship was to develop outstanding leaders who would be motivated to fight 'the world's fight' and to 'esteem the performance of public duties as their highest aim', and to promote international understanding and peace.