Results tagged “Pervez Hoodbhoy” from LUMS Review

Faisal Shahzad and the Times Square

Posted on May 7, 2010 4:49 PM |
by Pervez Hoodbhoy
times-square.jpg
(Image courtesy: McCullagh) 		    The man who tried to set off a car bomb in Times Square was a Pakistani. Why is this unsurprising? Answer: because when you hold a burning match to a gasoline tank, the laws of chemistry demand combustion. As anti-American lava spews uninterrupted from the fiery volcanoes of Pakistan's private television channels and newspapers, a collective psychosis grips the country's youth. Murderous intent follows with the conviction that the US is responsible for all ills, both in Pakistan and the world of Islam.

Faisal Shahzad, with designer sunglasses and an MBA degree from the University of Bridgeport, acquired that murderous intent. Living his formative years in Karachi, he typifies the young Pakistani who grew up in the shadow of Zia-ul-Haq's hate-based education curriculum. The son of a retired Air Vice-Marshal, life was easy as was getting US citizenship subsequently. But at some point the toxic schooling and media tutoring must have kicked in. There was guilt as he saw pictures of Gaza's dead children and related them to US support for Israel. A little internet browsing, or perhaps the local mosque, steered him towards the idea of an Islamic caliphate. This solution to the world's problems would require, of course, the US to be damaged and destroyed. Hence Shahzad's trip to Waziristan.
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Refugees from Swat and Burner

Posted on June 7, 2009 2:13 AM |
Some quick observations made by Pervez Hoodbhoy after a relief trip to areas around Mardan for refugees from Swat, Buner, and Dir:

1. There are several tent cities along the Islamabad-Swabi-Mardan stretch. It is said that about 2 million people have been displaced. We spent some time in one of them (Sheikh Yasin Camp) but decided against depositing our precious supplies there. Every NGO in the world, Islamic and secular, seems to be in the camps. Yes, this is a real struggle for hearts and minds that will determine the future direction of the war -- and everyone knows it. A strong army presence in this particular camp helps assure a moderately fair distribution mechanism, maintain law and order, and deal with Taliban elements who may have infiltrated the refugees. I had a chat with tough machine gun-toting junior officers who suggested that we go to places that have received no aid rather than in their camp. Good advice. 		    IDP_Pakistan.jpg

(Image courtesy: Khuban Omer Khan)
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Towards Theocracy?

Posted on April 9, 2009 4:19 PM |
by Pervez Hoodbhoy
burqa.jpg     For 20 years or more, a few of us in Pakistan have been desperately sending out SOS messages, warning of terrible times to come. Nevertheless, none anticipated how quickly and accurately our dire predictions would come true. It is a small matter that the flames of terrorism set Mumbai on fire and, more recently, destroyed Pakistan's cricketing future. A much more important and brutal fight lies ahead as Pakistan, a nation of 175 million, struggles for its very survival. The implications for the future of South Asia are enormous.

Today a full-scale war is being fought in FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas), Swat and other "wild" areas of Pakistan, with thousands dying and hundreds of thousands of IDPs (internally displaced people) streaming into cities and towns. In February 2009, with the writ of the Pakistani state in tatters, the government gave in to the demand of the TTP (Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, the Pakistani Taliban Movement) to implement the Islamic Sharia in Malakand, a region of FATA. It also announced the suspension of a military offensive in Swat, which has been almost totally taken over by the TTP. But the respite that it brought was short-lived and started breaking down only hours later.
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World Bank Help For Pakistan's Education - A Poisoned Chalice?

Posted on March 1, 2009 10:14 PM |
by Pervez Hoodbhoy
4094world.jpg     Rumor has it that the World Bank is on its way back to Pakistan with a bagful of loans, together with plans for how we must spend the money. A major focus of the Bank's efforts will be higher education reform. No one doubts the desperate need for reform of Pakistan's education sector, or the need for assistance, especially since we have shown little capacity to fund or plan our education ourselves. But recent experience suggests the Bank's help may be a poisoned chalice. If it is to be otherwise, the Bank will have to avoid local snake charmers and be more skeptical of what bureaucrats and ministers claim.
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How Greed Ruins Academia

Posted on February 20, 2009 12:47 AM |
by Pervez Hoodbhoy
Aquatint of a Doctor of Divinity at the Univer...

Image via Wikipedia

     Pakistan's university system is breaking down, perhaps irreparably so. Thanks to the Higher Education Commission's grand plans for a massive change, a tidal wave of money hit our public universities during the Musharraf years. Although difficult financial times finally stemmed the flood, this enormous cash infusion served to amplify problems rather than improve teaching and research quality.

Naked greed is now destroying the moral fibre of academia. Professors across the country are clamoring to lift even minimal requirements that could assure quality education. This is happening in two critical ways. First, to benefit from 3-fold increases in salaries for tenure-track positions, professors are speedily removing all barriers for their promotions. Second, they want to be able to take on more PhD students, whether these students have the requisite academic capacity or not. Having more students translates into proportionately more money in each professor's pocket.
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