KARACHI – World-renowned intellectual and social critic, Noam Chomsky onMonday speaks at a virtual session of the Habib University’s flagshipYohsin Lecture series.

The lecture titled “Bullet Dodged or Merely Delayed: Reflections on theFuture of Democracy, Nuclear Proliferation and the Looming EnvironmentalCatastrophe in a Post-Trumpian World,” he spoke of the ongoing coronaviruspandemic, saying the world would come out of it at a very terrible cost.

Pakistan used to have an advanced scientific establishment. The country hadNoble Prize laureates but for now, science has virtually disappeared.Pakistan has no future if it’s going to live in a world of religioussuperstition, he said.

The 92-year-old American linguist also lambasted at the BJP rule underPrime Minister Narendra Modi as its destroying the remnants of seculardemocracy, crushing Muslim rights and placing Kashmir under a viciousbrutal rule.

He warned the world with four severe crises. The first, of course, is thethreat of nuclear war. Second, according to him is the threat ofenvironmental catastrophe, which he described as severe and increasing, andwill likely reach an irreversible tipping point if not dealt with soon.

Chomsky said the third major crisis is the deterioration of globaldemocracy, and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as the fourth major crisis.

Chomsky also discussed the U.S election and termed it as an ‘absolutedisaster.’ He said the signs suggest that President Trump will neverconcede he lost the election.

He also discussed about the Iran attack, saying Trump before leaving theoffice might take a step, including attacking Iran. However, he added, Iranin retaliation might target oil fields in Saudi Arabia, which would have aglobal impact.