LUMS Review

New Vice Chancellor of LUMS

2011-06-11T20:17:07Z

We haven't been able to get an official confirmation yet, but the news from Twitter is that Dr. Adil Najam has been appointed as the next Vice Chancellor of LUMS. For those of you who are not aware of Adil Najam, he holds two Masters Degrees and a PhD from MIT and is a Professor at Boston University. In Pakistan, he is probably best known for his blog All Things Pakistan. You can find out more about him here.

LUMS recently celebrated it's 25th anniversary. Adil Najam's move to Pakistan and LUMS comes at a critical time and it's important to not only look back and celebrate how far we've come, but also think hard about where we are heading. Dr. Ahmad Durrani's single most important contribution during his time as VC, in our view, was providing better governance structure to LUMS and moving it towards becoming an institution that has a life of it's own and is not dependent on specific individuals for survival. It will be very interesting to see what Adil Najam's vision is for LUMS and what will he initially focus on when taking over as VC in July 2011. A big thank you to Ahmad Durrani for staying away from his family for this long and for all the hard work he put in -- his contribution to the evolution of LUMS will be remembered.

Alumni Annual 2010

2011-05-30T15:36:56Z

The latest (2010) edition of the LUMS Alumni Annual magazine is out. The magazine is growing in size and has a lot of "news updates" on LUMS achievements. Maybe they need to analyze that in this age of information overflow how many alumni actually read all the updates.

LUMS 25th Anniversary

2011-05-30T05:13:13Z

LUMS recently celebrated it's 25th Anniversary and released the promotional video below. In the coming years, it will be very interesting to see the impact LUMS alumni will have on the development of Pakistan, as well as LUMS itself.

Everything Drowned

2010-09-04T08:26:24Z

We are all aware of the recent flooding in Pakistan and the somewhat half-hearted response from the International community. Old folks on the ground say that they haven't witnessed anything like this in their living memory. Looking at the condition of these flood victims, you almost feel like giving them all your savings.

Below is a song dedicated to the flood victims. The song is in Urdu with a loose translation in English. Even a $5 donation can put a smile on a child's face and some food in her hands. Donating to UNICEF is one option.

my mud home with it's courtyard,
my sanctuary
(is here)
my lifeline of support,
my home village
(is here)
shadows of my every moment,
all my memories and their comfort is here
my sweat, blood, and tears,
my life and death,
everything is here
(but now)
everything has drowned
everything has drowned

if you were in my shoes,
you'd be forced to voice your pain
if you were in my shoes,
you'd be forced to beg with your hands
everything has drowned
everything has drowned

everything drowned
everything drowned
(everything)

Quetta to Harvard: A Journey

2010-09-01T01:00:44Z

People often criticize LUMS for being an elitist institute that is not really for the masses of Pakistan. The video below might answer this criticism. If you like what you see, try donating to the LUMS National Outreach Program here.

SDSB Survey

2010-07-25T00:59:54Z

The LUMS Suleman Dawood School of Business is conducting a market survey. You can provide them with your input here.

Faisal Shahzad and the Times Square

2010-05-07T20:49:51Z

by Pervez Hoodbhoy

(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.

Ideas considered extreme a decade ago are now mainstream. A private survey carried out by a European embassy based in Islamabad found that only 4% of Pakistanis polled speak well of America, 96% against. Although Pakistan and the US are formal allies, in the public perception the US has ousted India as Pakistan's number one enemy. Remarkably, anti-US sentiment rises in proportion to aid received. Say one good word about the US, and you are automatically labeled as its agent. From what popular TV anchors had to say about it, Kerry-Lugar's $7.5 billion may well have been money that the US wants to steal from Pakistan rather than give to it.

Pakistan is certainly not the world's only country where America is unpopular. In pursuit of its self-interest, wealth and security, the US has waged illegal wars, bribed, bullied and overthrown governments, supported tyrants and military governments, and undermined movements for progressive change. But paradoxically the US is disliked far more in Pakistan than in countries which have born the direct brunt of American attacks - Cuba, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Why?

Drone strikes are a common but false explanation. Foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi implicitly justifies the Times Square bombing as retaliation but this does not bear up. Drone attacks have killed some innocents, but they have devastated militant operations in Waziristan while causing far less collateral damage than Pakistani artillery or airpower. On the other hand, the cities of Hanoi and Haiphong were carpet-bombed by B-52 bombers and Vietnam's jungles were defoliated with Agent Orange. Yet, Vietnam never developed deep visceral feelings like those in Pakistan.

Finding truer reasons requires deeper digging. In part, Pakistan displays the resentment and self-loathing of a client state for its paymaster. US-Pakistan relations are frankly transactional today, but the master-client relationship is old. Indeed, Pakistan chose this path because confronting India over Kashmir demanded heavy militarization and big defense budgets. So, in the 1960's, Pakistan willingly entered into the SEATO and CENTO military pacts, and was proud to be called "America's most allied ally". The Pakistan Army became the most powerful, well-equipped and well-organized institution in the country. This also put Pakistan on the external dole.

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, even as it brought in windfall profits, deepened the dependence. Paid by the US to create the anti-Soviet jihadist apparatus, Pakistan is now being paid again to fight that war's blowback. Pakistan then entered George W. Bush's war on terror to enhance America's security - a fact that further hurt self-esteem. It is a separate matter that Pakistan fights that very war for its own survival, and must call upon its army to protect the population from throat-slitting, hand-chopping, girl-whipping fanatics.

Passing the buck is equally fundamental to Pakistan's anti-Americanism. It is in human nature to blame others for one's own failures. Pakistan has long teetered between being a failed state and a failing state. The rich won't pay taxes? Little electricity? Sewage-contaminated drinking water? Kashmir unsolved? Just blame it on the Americans. This phenomenon exists elsewhere too. For example, one recently saw the amazing spectacle of Hamid Karzai threatening to join the Taliban and lashing out against Americans because they (probably correctly) suggested he committed electoral fraud.

Tragically for Pakistan, anti-Americanism plays squarely into the hands of Islamic militants. They vigorously promote the notion of an Islam-West war when, in fact, they actually wage armed struggle to remake society. They will keep fighting this war even if America were to miraculously evaporate into space. Created by poverty, a war-culture, and the macabre manipulations of Pakistan's intelligence services, they seek a total transformation of society. This means eliminating music, art, entertainment, and all manifestations of modernity. Side goals include chasing away the few surviving native Christians, Sikhs, and Hindus.

At a time when the country needs clarity of thought to successfully fight extremism, simple bipolar explanations are inadequate. The moralistic question "Is America good or bad?" is futile. There is little doubt that the US has committed acts of aggression as in Iraq, worsened the Palestine problem, and maintains the world's largest military machine. We also know that it will make a deal with the Taliban if perceived to be in America's self-interest, and it will do so even if that means abandoning the Afghanistan's people to blood-thirsty fanatics.

Yet, it would be wrong to scorn the humanitarian impulse behind US assistance in times of desperation. Shall we simply write off massive US assistance to Pakistan at the time of the dreadful earthquake of 2005? Or to tsunami affected countries in 2004 and to Haiti in 2010? In truth, the US is no more selfish or altruistic than any other country of the world. And it treats its Muslim citizens infinitely better than we treat non-Muslims in Pakistan.

Instead of pronouncing moral judgments on everything and anything, we Pakistanis need to reaffirm what is truly important for our people: peace, economic justice, good governance, rule of law, accountability of rulers, women's rights, and rationality in human affairs. Washington must be firmly resisted, but only when it seeks to drag Pakistan away from these goals. More frenzied anti-Americanism will only produce more Faisal Shahzads.

In the pipeline for publication in Dawn (as of May 7th, 2010). Posted here with permission from the author.

CARE for Education

2010-04-24T02:49:09Z

Illiteracy is an enormous problem for Pakistan. The CARE foundation is trying to empower Pakistani children with a solid education. Check out the recent documentary by Khuban Omer Khan (Bsc'04):

Information about how to donate is here.

"Bachana" by Bilal Khan

2010-04-15T20:34:54Z

Bilal Khan (Bsc'09) has gone from singing on the campus stairs to having a formal song release. Check it out:

LUMS National Outreach Programme

2009-11-05T20:53:17Z

LUMS recently released a newsletter on their National Outreach Programme (NOP). It gives a nice overview of the motivation, current progress, and future ambitions of the NOP initiative. LUMS is actively seeking funding support for this programme. You can view the newsletter as a PDF file here:

NOP Newsletter 2009

If you wish to make any donations, you can find a pledge form at the end of the newsletter.

NYC Dinner with Syed Babar Ali

2009-10-03T16:10:47Z

Syed Babar Ali missed the reunion with the North America alumni last June due to an unavoidable clash of meetings. To make up for his lapse, he is coming again! Alumni, their spouse and friends are also welcome (everybody pays for self and accompanying members).

What? Dinner with Syed Babar Ali
When? Saturday, October 10, 2009
Time? 6:00pm - 8:30pm
City? New York, NY
Location? Ali Baba's Terrace, 862 Second Avenue - (46th and 2nd)
Why? Because SBA rocks.

Email address for RSVP:

LUMS Alumni Newsletter 2009

2009-09-20T21:16:52Z

To keep alumni informed about the developments at LUMS as well as alumni news/achievements, the alumni department has developed a midyear newsletter. The first edition of this newsletter is embedded at the end of this post. Alternatively, a PDF version is also available:

LUMS Alumni Newsletter 2009

Refugees from Swat and Burner

2009-06-07T06:13:16Z

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.

(Image courtesy: Khuban Omer Khan)

2. Subsequently, we spent our day searching for the neediest of the needy. Eventually we deposited our supplies in 3 different places: a village where refugee families had been allowed temporary residence in hujras (Pashtuns are incredibly hospitable people). Then, a sugar cane research institute whose residential quarters had been occupied by refugees, and two public schools where refugee families are living in classrooms.

3. Swat refugees told us that they had fled both because of Taliban atrocities and army action (F-16's, tank and mortar shellings). Many blamed the Taliban for their predicament, but said they actually fled because of the military action. Nevertheless, perhaps out of fear of talking to strangers like us, they were not prepared to condemn either side.

4. Comparing the Pakistani state's tardy and inadequate response to the 2005 earthquake and this man-made catastrophe, I feel that everyone is higher on the learning curve. This time around, both the state and civil society have acted much quicker. This is the good news.

5. The bad news is that Swat, Buner, Dir, etc. are drowning in children. Every family to which we supplied provisions had 7 or more children. One man scratched his head - he thought he had 16 or 17 kids, but could not quite remember. In the school-housed community of 300 refugees, housed at 40 per classroom, 4 kids had been born in the last 20 days, and more were on the way. If this pace continues, the world will run out of oxygen. Girls upto 7-8 years run around like normal kids. But after that age, they totally disappear. In this horrible heat (40C, it was relatively cool today), it must be a double hell to be a refugee girl and then be confined to a tent or room with 20 others. Unless Pashtoons repudiate the toxic mix of religion and tribal culture that oppresses their womenfolk, they will be miserable in perpetuity even without external enemies. And they will be the cause of endless miseries to others as well.

On Why the US Foreign Policy Will Fail in Pakistan

2009-05-07T20:20:56Z

By Ali Farid Khwaja

Pakistan seems to have occupied a central space in the policy debate and foreign policy agenda of President Obama. Besides getting a lot of attention from the administration, lawmakers and think tanks, the country has also been committed substantial foreign aid package by the US Government. President Obama announced a total aid package of US $10bn to support development work and military operation by the Pakistan army. The aim of this multi-faceted aid and support package is to garner Pakistan's military support in dealing with the situation in Afghanistan, fighting the insurgent radical groups inside Pakistan and to control the threat of religious radicalization inside Pakistan. However I think that cooperation and collaboration between US and Pakistan will remain at a bottleneck until the conspiracy theories and perceptions of the US Af-Pak agenda which exist inside Pakistan are alleviated. I believe the biggest threat to US Pakistan relationship is the trust deficit which exists between the two countries, along with irresponsible media frenzy and aggressive posturing from US administration on the risks, threats and state institutions in Pakistan.

From the perspective of Pakistan's public, the amount of attention and coverage which the country gets in media, press and international arena is both confusing and suspicious. The country features as a cover page story on magazines like the Economist, Newsweek and the Times and newspapers like New York Times, Financial Times cover the country on almost a daily basis. Huffington Post, a leading news blog, has a separate page for Pakistan with the title that "some stories are so important that they deserve a separate page"! That is indeed a lot of attention and limelight for a medium sized, developing country in Asia. Though a Urdu adage says that it is better to be infamous than not being known at all, most of these stories and expert opinions only create suspicion, fuel conspiracy theories and create further distrust of the West inside Pakistan.

People in Pakistan question, when they read headlines like "Pakistan the most dangerous place in the world", or that "Pakistan is a failed state and about to disintegrate within months". They question under what criteria and evaluation rules has this political judgment, deem fit for a cover page story, been awarded. Is really Pakistan the most dangerous place to live in? What about civil wars in Thailand, what about the decade long conflict in Sri Lanka, what about the many separate movements in India? What about living in Gaza and Palestine? What about Lebanon, Sudan, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Georgia? And of course, what about the prevailing situation in Iraq and Afghanistan? Is Pakistan more dangerous, unstable or even radicalized than some of these countries? The answer to most Pakistanis at least, is no. What about Israel? Israel claims its cities were hit by 6000 rockets fired by Palestinians in Gaza. Doesn't that make Israel more dangerous than Pakistan?

Inside Pakistan, regardless of what is written in the media, people are generally at ease and don't find the frequent warnings credible. This is a very alarming situation. The observations which are made by experts in the US, like Pakistan has risk of disintegration, becoming a failed state or being a dangerous place to live in, only seem to be creating alienation and suspicion inside Pakistan. The mainstream view both in the government, media and the public in Pakistan is that a media and political campaign is being used to malign the country, exaggerate political risks, create militancy and then eventually invade the sovereignty of the country.

People of Pakistan see a conspiracy against their state. They see a conspiracy in which India, US and Israel have collaborated. The conspiracy is to destabilize Pakistan and eventually to divide the country on the lines of provinces; the "balkanization" of Pakistan as President Zardari called it. The theory is that the troika of India-Israel-US has plans to carve an independent state out of Pakistan by dividing the province of Baluchistan and Frontier. Such a state, which extends from the border of Iran and the Indian Ocean will link with Afghanistan to create a larger "Pashtun" belt. From the point of view of US, many strategic advantages are credited behind such a policy agenda: Such a state can create a buffer between Pakistan and Afghanistan, provide the US a supply route from the Indian Ocean to Afghanistan, it will provide access to vital strategic location which borders Iran, Russia and China, and provide access to the presumably minerals and oil and gas rich Baluchistan region. The strategy of getting access to Indian Ocean through Afghanistan has a historical element to it and both USSR and Russia under Peter the Great have believed to have explored the option.

This conspiracy theory is based on the infamous "map" which originated from some US strategy and policy center and has been widely distributed around and commented on in Pakistan. A story on New York Times, captioned, "Obama Plots the Breakup of Pakistan" published on 23 November 2008, had a reference to this map.

This conspiracy theory is fast becoming the mainstream public opinion, accepted both by the establishment in Pakistan and the public on the street. It also seems to have traveled outside Pakistan and Gulf Times, a leading newspaper of Middle East published a story on 22nd April 2009 on the role played by an unnamed leading Gulf state (the reference was to Saudi Arabia) in preventing the US from using an economic aid plan to divide Pakistan. The article talks about how the US and the "West" planned to use an economic aid program to get access to the Baluchistan and Frontier province and later leverage this financial investment to involve UN and broker a division of Pakistan.

Another major perceived threat to Pakistan comes from its Nuclear Weapons. The threat originates not from the Taliban taking over nuclear weapons but rather from the US forces trying to use military and economic pressures to take away nuclear technology from Pakistan. I don't want to debate on the merits or demerits of such a policy or neither on whether such a policy exists but rather want to emphasis that the perception in Pakistan. The mainstream opinion is of a risk on nuclear technology from the US!

Can the US government expect cooperation from Pakistan government, when the perception in Pakistan is that the US wants to break it up? I doubt it. I doubt Pakistan can consider the Taliban their priority when they expect a major political game being played in the region. I doubt, the public opinion inside Pakistan can ever support cooperation with the US if the people believe that the US is a threat to their sovereignty. I doubt the Af-Pak agenda of President Obama can be successful until this distrust exists.

President Obama has been giving mixed signals on his foreign policy agenda. He is softening up to Iran and Cuba, he is silent on Middle East and indecisive on North Korea. Whereas Pakistan, a long ally of the US government since the last sixty years and a country which in 2004 was made a major non-Nato Ally, is now getting aggressive postures from the US administration, Iran is getting New Year greetings from President Obama. It is not surprising then to hear political leaders in Pakistan debating that perhaps taking the Iran route of isolation and defiance might be the best strategy. This to me can be a disastrous scenario for both Pakistan and US, but the risk of pushing Pakistan into isolation are very real. There is a risk that political distrust of the US, along with the aggressive posturing by US administration and the carrot and stick policy, can lead to radicalization and rise of fundamentalism inside the country.

President Obama and his administration face a lot of challenges, more domestic than external. Iraq still is a political mess and Afghanistan has become the drug capital of the world run by war lords. The US domestic economy is still facing the biggest recession in its recent history and large US companies are unsure of their survival. The new US foreign policy needs to be based on partnership and trust and surely President Obama has been a preacher on the merits of these virtues. US relationship with Pakistan also needs to be based on mutual trust and common goals. Carrot and stick policies and intrusion on sovereignty will not only fail US foreign policy agenda in the region but also make the $10bn dollars committed by the US government a case of cash for trash, as Krugman would put it.

I think we should start by being honest. The US needs to address to alleviate these concerns and put end to such conspiracy theories. Perception is reality in foreign affairs and the reaction inside Pakistan of such a perception surely cannot be too productive. The country faces real problems and needs to focus all its resources in dealing with the Taliban rather than getting distracted by ghosts of larger political agendas. Building bridges of trust is necessary for future cooperation and collaboration. Or if there is some truth behind these theories, then again being honest and open is the right policy, as otherwise, it will only create further suspicion and doubt. The bigger risk is that such perception of risk can make other countries in the region like China, Iran and the Middle East also active and lead to another great game in a region which has been home to many.

Ali Farid Khwaja is a London based fund manager and a Rhodes Scholar.

Varsity Heroes: Time for Major Ownage

2009-04-24T13:42:20Z

Some LUMS and GIKI alumni have launched a new social gaming network - Varsity Heroes. The idea seems quite interesting and within a few days of launch they have attracted hundreds of users. In their own words, "Varsity Heroes is a more fun way of social networking where you get to diss other networks, take up guns against them and remind them of their grannies. All that in 2 minutes a day". Check out Varsity Heroes here.

Continue reading this post to read a comic about their story. They have a facebook page as well.