The Pakistani Who Thinks Ahead

Re: # 12

What??? Negativity??? Where at? I thought you were being very positive when you signed up at Chowk specifically to defend Mr Kashif Hasnie. Now aint that cute? And yes Naz was very much off target. That is why she ticked enough people to make them interact to this crappy article. There was an apparent sense of being so much in awe of Kashif Hasnie. But then he has that effect on women (being very Islamic and all).

I agree that Kashif is not shallow or naive, BUT he fits the mould of an extremely judgemental pseudo intellectual who has really wierd ideas on how he thinks this world oughta be. We dont need any more radicals in this world.
And I seriously doubt that you have interacted more extensively with him that ``Mr Hasnie`` who apparently knows his father and thinks that Kashif should start by sorting his own family..So there you go.. My 2 cents....

So much negativity! You know...Naz is not that off target. I have had the chance to interact extensively with Kashif, and he is neither shallow, nor naive,and definitely not superficial. And as for the religiosity part, although we do not really have a yardstick to measure truly how religious anyone is, I can say from personal experience that Kashif is one of the most conscientious individuals I have met, and he does indeed take being a Muslim very seriousl. So guys, we should really refrain from hurling baseless accusations around.

Having said this, I also agree with some of the comments about using one`s resources and education to work at the grassroots level to bring changes from within. But ultimately, it`s a personal choice; there are currently examples of Paksitanis who manage to give even while away from home. So perhaps we would all be better off working together rather than chewing off each other; maybe in this way we will be able to get more done eventually. Afterall, one of the greatest weaknesses of Pakistanis has been a self-destructive trait of holding each other back.

Re: # 10

Hahaha.. I can surely feel the love you have for Kashif, ``Mr Hasnie``..but then all great ``Visionaries`` have people around them who dont like them ;-)

Kashif is not a devout Muslim in any sense. Just wearing a beard doesn`t make a person Muslim, he must show it in his daily life to qualify as such. Also get him to fix his own family including the old man (his Dad) first.
Kashif is totally naive and a lost soul, his perception of Pakistan proves that. An educated wise and intellegent person, as you portraid him in your article, is utterly wrong.
Pakistan`s problem is its people (firsty / foremost), secondly its economical resources and lastly the Government system. Pakistani`s ethics are the worst in the world, society is riddled with lies, deception, theiving, nepotism, bribery, cheating and petty crimes, and any thing worst one can imagine. We need a prophet to fix Pakistan`s problems, it is beyond repair. Get Georgie, Satan The Great from the USA (Ultra Satanic America), to drop a couple of atomic bombs there, so that we can start a new / fresh Pakistan, and inhabitate it with life from elsewhere. Hey Georgie do us a favour.

Oh please not again...Not another ignorant article.. And let me repeat what Mantolives commented, ``is this a recommendation letter?`` As for ``He is a devout Muslim and tries to practice Islam to the fullest`` , I happen to have known Mr Hasnie and have met him more times than I care to remember and let me say this, he has a beard and he may have read some books on Islam but a devout Muslim...He is far from that .I also agree with all the other comments. People like him with Ivy league credentials have yet to benefit Pakistan..A lot of talk and self styled intellect is all what hey have to show for.

Wake me up when they do something for real...

interactors: scintillating commentary by pakistanis safely ensconced in the proverbial derh inch ki masjid. the delusional pakistani - grand in a roomful of mirrors - will be the death of us. and a very slow one its proving to be.

Naz: good stuff but might have helped if your tone hadn`t be quite so gushing - it has put all your complexed readers in such a huff they may never recover ;)

dL

Re: # 5
I agree. This ``diploma from an Ivy league place`` has become an obsession of the Pakistani nation and links to Nobel laureates give extra ``weight``. The ex-patriate Pakistanis who are brilliant and interested to work for their homeland are of course always welcome. But they should live with and like the ordinary people of Pakistan. Having Ivy and Nobel connections may be relevant to Americans but much less to Pakistanis or to Pakistan.

Viewer, it’s OK yaar, its not as if she is recommending the guy to be in the Guinness book or records. Let’s not make such a major league deal about it.

Dear Naz. With credentials like this guy, the only job I can offer him is as a summer intern at my work. In Pakistan, you pull out a brick and you discover a Development Economist. In Pakistan, we don’t need theorists who spend their years studying controlled experiments based on theorem of Rostow or Harrod-Domar models or false paradigm models and other similar neo-classical garbage. We need practitioners and those who are home produced. I know guys, without high school diplomas, running major enterprises in rural Pakistan. They provide more jobs to the local workforce and contribute more to the economy than all of your Ivy league schmucks combined. It is an insult to Pakistanis to put jokers on mantle to be worshiped who just happen to have a diploma from an Ivy league place. Local Pakistanis are as good, if not better, than those educated abroad.

Can the author reply that ``being a devout Muslim and trying to practice Islam to its fullest`` is also an extra qualification to ``fix`` Pakistan apart from Harvard, Chicago and Columbia and Nobel laureate connections?

Also, do you say the same about having ``increasing interest in Usul-ul-Fiqh with a philosophical bent stamped by Islamic modernists such as Abdolkarim Soroush and Tariq Ramadan``.

If these Pakistanis, who left their country to enjoy the benefits of living abroad are really interested in their country why not they come forward voluntarily, without recommendations, to build and serve their homeland. If they really want to build their country why not they start living/working with their fellow Pakistani at the same pays and benefits and construct this country from within. There appears to be too much obsession within Pakistan that only someone having an “American stamp” can deliver great benefits to this country.

This article clearly demonstrates the slave mentality prevalent in Pakistan. According to this author one become “qualified to put Pakistan on track`` if he/she is found ``walking in the corridors of the Library of Congress`` or “gets nominated as an alumni of the Columbia University`` or ``frequently lectures at places like Harvard, University of Chicago, and University of Illinois, and places of similar sort, etc. Similar mentality is apparent from the existence of ``Boston Group`` who is trying to provide “remote control/guidance” to Pakistani academics. Living/working in US is seen as a great qualification by itself and many Pakistani people will see the stamps of MIT, Harvard and Columbia more than qualified to do the job of ``fixing-up`` Pakistan.

Is this a recommendation letter?