Islamabad: They may not see eye-to-eye and they may be as different as chalk and cheese, but what links Pakistan's top politicians is their alma mater the famous Forman College of Lahore.

Heading the list of famous alumni from Forman College is President Pervez Musharraf, followed by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani.

The two Formanites may not have exchanged pleasantries when Musharraf administered the oath of office to Gillani or even when they held aloft the Olympic flame yesterday but the events have surely made their alma mater proud.

Formanites making it as top politicians is not a recent phenomenon. The college has given Pakistan two presidents and three prime ministers so far.

Sardar Farooq Leghari was the first Formanite to become president. Former premiers Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Mohammedmian Soomro are also from the over 100-year-old elite institution.

Chaudhry's powerful cousin Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, the former chief minister of Punjab, too is a Formanite.

Interestingly, the college, whose faculty member Arthur Compton received a Nobel Prize in 1927 for his research on cosmic rays, has also given India a prime minister. Inder Kumar Gujral, India's former premier, is another famous Formanite the college is proud of.

Till some years ago, Forman College was famous for playing great cricket, while the other power centre of learning in Lahore, Aitchison College, sent its students to the corridors of power. But all that seems to have changed.

Though not many politicians recall their college days, Musharraf did write about his adventures and misadventures while at Forman College in his memoirs "In the Line of Fire".
Source : PTI