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Est. 9 April 1973 — Karachi

History of Sindh Medical College

A college born not from a government plan, but from a students movement — the record of a campaign that turned a generation’s dream into an institution.

Est. 9 April 1973 — Karachi

Student movements demand a second medical college in Karachi

The demand renewed in the movement against Ayub Khan

First Divisioners Action Committee formed

1973 Sindh Medical College inaugurated, 9 April

Founding UK Alumni Reunion, London

Jinnah Sindh Medical University established, 1 June

Origins

A demand carried by students

The demand for a second government medical college in Karachi had always been a regular feature of the charter of demands of the students movements launched in the city, particularly through the decade of the 1960s. It was again a key demand in the historic movement of 1968 against the dictatorship of Ayub Khan.

In 1972, a large number of Karachi students who had passed the Pre-Medical Group in the First Division were denied admission to Dow Medical College, the sole medical college in the city at the time. It was the first occasion that so many first-division HSC candidates were turned away. In response they formed the Pre-Medical Students First Divisioners Action Committee and launched a vigorous campaign for a second medical college.

Syed Nadeem Ahmed was elected Chairman. Active members included Khalid Waheed, Khalid Niaz, Akhtar Nayab Siddiqui, Nighat Sultana Ansari, Zain-ul-Abideen Siddiqui, Mansoor Ahmed and Khan Tariq. The first five are no longer with us; their work stands in the form of SMC. A firebrand speaker with rare organisational skill, Nadeem drove the committee through the disappointments and cold responses of those first months.

Syed Nadeem Ahmed - Chairman Action Committee, graduate of the first batch...

The Campaign

The medical fraternity joins

After the government's initial cold-shouldered responses, the committee turned to the medical fraternity. A watershed moment arrived when the leadership of the Pakistan Medical Association resolved to fully and actively support the demand — most of its office-bearers had raised the very same demand in their own student days.

Under the guidance of the late Dr. Mir Rehman Ali Hashmi, Central Secretary General, and Dr. Aziz Khan Tank, Karachi President, the PMA lobbied senior academics and the provincial health department, and presented a practical proposal: the disused Children's Ward building at Jinnah Hospital as the site of the new college.

Talks with Provincial Health Minister Abdul Waheed Katpar.

The delegation, led by Syed Nadeem Ahmed, in negotiation with PMA office bearers.

1973

Three months to a college

The Sindh Government agreed to the PMA's proposal and formed a Project Committee headed by Prof. Khwaja Muin Ahmed as Project Director. Mir Rehman Ali Hashmi and Dr. Aziz Tank joined as members, alongside the Health Minister of Sindh, the principals of the province's two medical colleges, and the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Health.

The committee worked at exemplary speed and made the dream real in a span of just three months. The first batch was announced in March 1973: sixty students from Karachi, sixty from the rest of Sindh, ten from Baluchistan and ten on reserved seats.

60

Karachi

60

Sindh

10

Balochistan

10

Reserved

Prof. Khwaja Muin Ahmed, Project Director and first principal, at the inauguration ceremony.

The foundation stone, bearing the names of the project committee, 9 April 1973.

Diaspora

SMC-JSMU Alumni UK & Eire

Alumni have been arriving in the UK since the early 1980s for postgraduate training, serving the population primarily through the NHS. Efforts to organise began in 1990 and produced the Sindh Medical College Graduates Association UK & Eire, recently renamed SMC-JSMU Alumni UK & Eire.

After the founding reunion in 1990, the association organised consecutive annual reunions from 1993 to 2007, and further gatherings in 2010, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2023. Members supported, guided and mentored newly arriving alumni, arranging clinical attachments and sponsored training.

After functioning as ‘a Collective’ for decades... the association established a steering committee in 2023, which drafted a constitution in July 2024 to guide future development. In 2026, the Steering Committee underwent some changes and new members were introduced, replacing some previous members.

Steering Committee, 2023

Mateen Durrani ’81 — Chairman

Viquar Qurashi ’80

Shahid Quraishi ’85

Asim Iqbal Shahmalak ’86

Amir Zaidi ’93

Ahmed Salman ’98

Erum Naz ’98

Nabeel Afzaal ’00

Sadaf Bashir ’01

Usama Kidwai ’01

Imran Adam ’02

Haya Nadir ’09

Rida Hanif ’15

Hamza Naveed ’20

Gatherings

Reunions, 1990 – 2023

1990 · London

Khan Restaurant, where the first UK reunion was held.

1995 · Coventry

Alumni gathered for the annual reunion.

1996 · Coventry

The reunion returns to Coventry.

2002 · Coventry

A decade of consecutive annual gatherings.

2010 · London

The association reconvenes in London.

2023 Reunion

The association reconvenes in United kingdom