And Dr. Shahid Hussain Bokhari Quits…

Re: # 12

Dear Sac,

I am not sure what you mean. I am a newbie here.


Re: # 11

Finder: On top of that he is blowing his trumpet so loud in that letter that it makes you wana puke. He fails to make a single argument against any of the policy stances he does not agree with, but he doesn’t backout from bragging about his records and accomplishment. His letter sounds more like a job application than a letter of contempt. It could have been a lot more useful by stating the point in a clear and concise way:

Here’s how it should have read:

HEC people,

I am leaving.

Good Bye.

Thanks for your attention.

Whether or not I (or anyone else) support his cause is inconsiquential, but issues such as these can be handled in a lot more professional way. If he wants to leave, fine. I fail to understand that what does his long tenure and impressive credentials have to do (if anything at all) with his decision to leave? These two are mutually exclusive with one having nothing to do with the other.

My point is that it took the Professor 25 years to realize that UET is a Publicly funded institution and policies of it are made by the bureaucrats. And if he doesn’t like these policies, that’s perfectly within his rights, but if he wants to see them changed, he needs to learn to work the system.

Dear kulharee,

Please enlighten us. Did you use to interact on this site under a different id? And since you make it a point to disclose your affiliation with a minority, maybe you`d also like to come out of the closet?

later
-sac

P.S:Where are the defenders of HEC and Dr. Ata alias God? They usually reside in places like France and Toronto.

I am sure Dr Bokhari is mad at the HEC, I believe all reaonable academics are.

However, some of the reasons given by Dr. Bokhari are not worthy of a man of research standing.

Please refer to the points in Dr. Bokhari`s writing

1. His foremost reason to leave is that he does not like the Tenure-track system. May I take the liberty of pointing out that this system is used the world over. Also, many great Pakistani scientists (there are a few) want to have that system implemented. I am talking about the likes of Prof. Riaz-ud-Din (Chairman National Center for Physics). If you think Dr. Bokhari`s credentials are impressive, please run a check on Dr. Riaz-ud-Din.

3. While the Oman Chair may cause a few problems, if it is reserved for only the most accomplished of researchers, there is no harm in attracting them by paying a lot of money.

7. I take particular offense to this point. The logic is pathetic. Because UET was a purely engineering institute is no reason for it to be good. In my opinion, introducing the sciences is a very good step. Why do we think the sciences are any lower than engineering. The world-over physics and maths are considered to be the most challenging fields. Plus all of engineering requires a lot of maths and physics to make sense of things. I do not understand why Dr Bokhari would write such a thing.

Cheers

Re: # 8

Einstein, Do you know what keeping an eye on the ball means?

Re: # 7
Kulharee ``There are plenty of other research institutes in Pakistan, he can move his ass to one of them.``

Re: Ideally you must move your ass out of Chowk.

Kulharee ``Pakistan’s (or EE department of UET’s) existence or survival does not depend on one little no body. All the teachers can go to hell for all I care.``

Re: If the HEC and the country will not care then ``all the one little no bodies`` that you have referred to, will indeed prefer to leave. The huge difference it will create will become apparant. Institutions in the present world are judged by their capacity to retain their faculty members who really make a difference.

Kulharee ``Now if you have some solid argument to make, let’s hear it. Otherwise go and do whatever the hell you do.``

Re: The argument has already been given by the Omer Cheema in his article. I am just trying to protest against the abusive language you have used for a senior teacher of UET.

Kulharee: ``Go and check out lines at the foreign consulates in Islamabad some day``
Re: Do you really think that all the people lining up are Dr. Bukharis?

Kulharee: ``The letter the professor wrote to the HEC would get a D- if written by a junior high student elsewhere``

Re: The comments you have made about Dr. Bukhari will surely lead to your expulsion from any self-respecting junior high school.

Re: # 6

Listen Einstein, 96% of Pakistani hate the current policies that they are governed by; are you proposing that they all should leave the country? Who will left behind? Geniuses like yourself?

Pakistan’s (or EE department of UET’s) existence or survival does not depend on one little no body. All the teachers can go to hell for all I care. Not that they are teaching for free. Go and check out lines at the foreign consulates in Islamabad some day. You don’t need to come up with an excuse (oh, I don’t like HEC policies…blah blah blah) in frder to jusify your leaving the country. Because to be honest, no one gives a crap about that. The letter the professor wrote to the HEC would get a D- if written by a junior high student elsewhere.

Now if you have some solid argument to make, let’s hear it. Otherwise go and do whatever the hell you do.

Re: # 4
Kulharee,
You (whoever you are) must, first of all, try to learn how to respect the teachers before uttering non-sense you have come up with. I strongly protest against you using abusive language while writing about a teacher who has served UET for so long.

Kulharee ``How the hell ‘Oman Chair’ affect anything whatsoever about the state of EE at UET?``
Re: It certainly does affect and not more than a little common sense is required to understand it.

Kulharee ``Pakistan does not need theoretical scientists, we need people who can find ways to provide clean drinking water and bring electricity to homes. Let the smarter nations do the research``

Re: Definitely Pakistan does not idiots like you, let alone any one else. Pakistan does not need idiots like you whose imagination cannot go beyond linking any further role for an engineer than providing clean water and electricity.

Kulharee ``Pakistan needs more Kabab Makers than Electrical Engineers.``
Re: If Pakistanis listen to your sense then indeed only Kabab makers will be left in this ill fortunate country.

Kulharee ``UET should be merged with some world Indian institution, there are plenty of Engineers affiliated with IEEE and NAACP and NSPCA, and also with GMHC.``

Re: When people like Dr. Bukhari are deciding to leave Pakistan for genuine reasons, it will be foolish to think that the mentioned Indian universities may be convinced to give even their affiliation, let alone the talk of merging. Institutions where teachers are respected, and they are able to retain them, will attach more importance to what Dr. Bukhari says than the top administrators running the HEC do. I do not know what you are talking about, apart from showing your ignorance.

Kulharee ``If he wants to leave, he can do so by just leaving. He is an idiot if these policies were the last straw that broke his back.

Re: In my humble but certainly sincere opinion the only idiot in this present scenario are yourself.

I don`t know Professor Bokhari personally but his research career is impressive. How many are there of Pakistani origin who have such impressive record. I don`t know the internal mechanism and politics of HEC but I do respect his decision. If he believes he can continue his research career more profitably (not in terms of money only) some place else, so be it. In the end, it`s a loss for UET and Pakistan.
To produce one meaningful research paper is neither trivial nor ordinary. I respect Professor Shahid for his work. After reading the sentiments expressed in the paper, it appears that Professor Bokhari did his job quite well. Motivating the students is imprtant part of teaching.

Mohammad Gill

Re: # 3

Irfan, tell me something. If a country has only ONE EE professor with such a long CV, what does that say about that country? Those who wish to make a change don’t cop out by finding reasons, in his case, the HEC policy. How the hell ‘Oman Chair’ affect anything whatsoever about the state of EE at UET? If he wanted to be a Policy Guy, he should have gone into Policy and not EE. There are plenty of other research institutes in Pakistan, he can move his ass to one of them. Not only is he talking out of his ass, but if the other EE faculty does not follow his foot-step, it implies that they are knuckleheads (if all followed his foot-steps, would you still say that it is HEC doing?). If he is as good as you claim, he can set up his own research lab and get funding and grants from various places; but to be successful in that, one needs to have brain, which you transistor-heads lack.

Here let me summarize for you: Pakistan does not need theoretical scientists, we need people who can find ways to provide clean drinking water and bring electricity to homes. Let the smarter nations do the research.

He did 25 years, that’s enough. He is probably burnt out anyway. So let him do something else. It’s not such a big deal.

Do you know something else? In my field, we are judged by how many leaders have we produced. If a schmuck couldn’t produce his replacement in 25 years of teaching, he deserves no respect. And EE is not a rocket science.

@Kulharee,

No, the professor is not contradicting himself. He is arguing against having an ``Oman chair`` that is paid 7.5 times more than the regular professors. I think everyone should care about his views on policy, because he is talking about education policy, and he is himself an educator. You are showing the same arrogant mindset you are ascribing to him.

Seeing his accomplishments, I believe he has a right to blow his own trumpet more than he did. There is a difference between being an engineer that is a member of the IEEE, and being a fellow of the IEEE. For one, you have to pay money, for the other, you are chosen among hundreds of thousands. If you knew jack-all about research you would recognize that fact.

@Charlie,

Another sad departure. I know how it must feel when a respected teacher leaves your alma-mater. The guy`s CV is impressive, he is a referee for several IEEE Transactions. It`s extremely unfortunate that people like him are not given the respect due to them.

Regards,
Irfan.

the irony is that the primary recipient of this letter had been a drama queen not so long ago just like this bokhari guy when he used to be a teacher. ;-)

Very interesting. But the Professor is contradicting himself. One the one hand he is arguing over hiring visiting professors (point 3) on the other hand he is saying that there are not many qualified lecturers in the country? What the hell does he want? And who the hell cares what his views about policies are? Since when do academics have been made incharge of making policies? Hello? He is blowing his own trumpet in his letter. If he wants to leave, he can do so by just leaving. He is an idiot if these policies were the last straw that broke his back.

The problem is that this whole ‘elitist’ and ‘we are better than everyone else’ sucky attitude is the main reason why there is such a mess. Pakistan needs more Kabab Makers than Electrical Engineers. It’s been 60 years since the nation came into being, and we still have friggin brown-outs and black-outs. UET should be merged with some world Indian institution, there are plenty of Engineers affiliated with IEEE and NAACP and NSPCA, and also with GMHC.