An Interview with Nasser Khan Ghazi A great interview of a great guy.

I was fortunate to meet Nasser Ghazi in 1994, in a meeting at my parent`s house. The topic du jour then was the creation of the Usman Institute of Technology (which later merged into Hamdard University.) I was a freshman back then, returning home for the summer, and was extremely excited about the idea of creating a university in Karachi -- one of technical excellence.

I`d just spent a year integrating ``e-mail`` and the WWW into my life at RPI and like any arrogant freshman, was pretty sure that that was the way the world was going to work. I couldn`t understand why so many people thought of that idea as crazy in of itself back then.

Being the youngest loudmouth of the group (which consisted of a really exciting band of freshly returned US college graduates) I was of course not taken seriously, but I will never forget how Nasser Bhai quietly and with clear logic asked and answered the question ``why not?`` It had to come to Pakistan. He defended his arguments with technical excellence that none could well argue against (again, this was a technically very savvy group, not to mention really uninhibited.)

After everyone else had left, while he and my father, Samir Hoodbhoy, were in the midst of an extremely engaging post-meeting discussion, I vividly remember realizing that I was sitting in the presence of a person who was going to do great things.

For the record, the obstacles that Nasser Bhai overcame in setting up Digicom were monumental. As one who was a direct witness of the process, and despite being the son of an eternal optimist, at times I thought he was nuts. But he persisted with a determination that is almost impossible to describe. This is a man who did everything from physically going up on top of buildings to set up satellite transponders to successfully going through the entire bureaucratic process of getting an ISP license when the process itself didn`t exist. The argument of who had the first ISP service in Pakistan is merely academic.

The tragedy in all of this is how shamefully Pakistan treated him. Nasser Ghazi is a jewel of a human being and technically one of the most outstanding engineering professionals I have ever met, anywhere in the world. In losing him, Pakistan has perhaps lost the equivalent (almost) of another Salaam.

Vis a comment made by another avid reader, ``if only there were more people like him``, allow me to posit that there are people like him, working hard in Pakistan. The list of people Nasser mentions, while small (and even though he didn`t intend it -- woefully incomplete), is representative of a large minority of talented, dynamic people who are committed to bringing about real, tangible change. And that`s just the people in the IT world! There are many, many more social scientists, teachers, doctors, architects, intellectuals etc. whom we rarely recognize.

But it is people like us who have to find them, keep encouraging them, and work with them as and when they are in the midst of things. Not to merely eulogize them after we`ve lost them and to poo-poo the ``system``.

Nuclear Tests in Pakistan I am not really proud of what we did. I can`t really blame the govt. either.

But let`s remember this: we may have ``settled the score`` for now, but the war is far from over. I hope no-one here has delusions of grandeur that our economy is strong enough to exist without external support.

We are pretty badly screwed.

Courses of action IMHO:
1) Sign the CTBT ASAP. Hopefully it will have some effect in leveraging a few sanctions off.

2) Establish closer economic ties with China and especially Iran. We should make a deal with Iran for good rates on Oil in exchange for something or the other that they need (other than N-technology puh-LEASE.)

3) Try and sedate Japan. their economic support is vital.

4) Somehow reduce tensions with India. I have no clue how to do that now- a balance of terror perhaps could be leveraged(?).

Oh, check out the Dawn.com site for an opinion poll on whether or not we should have blown up the bomb. Last time I checked it was 50/50.

I hope some smidgeon of intelligence prevails on the world soon.

Faraz

India tests three nuclear devices I was in Boston recently and was privy to a few interesting discussions in reaction to India`s recent testing.

The only thing that I could gather was that no-one really understands what is happening right now. The options are pretty self evident:

1) React within a week (not longer) with our own nuclear test. Then realze too late that we don`t have the economic backbone to be self-reliant when the sanctions hit us (which will come much faster than any against India.)

2) Prepare a crash course international lobbying campaign against India, generate leverage by threatening our own retaliation and then being bought out (at a high price) by the international community to abstain. The price may include writing off several billion of our debt.

3) Sit on our duffs and make a lame ass plea to the international community to do something, not make a test and simply fizzle out.

Lets remember that the people in the streets of Karachi are screaming for blood now and want us to start flexing our own muscles. The Maulvi is preaching for us to start blowing up the infidels. The bureaucrat is quietly preparing to move his family out for good.

The few of us here screaming for ``high road`` reasoning don`t really count. Lets be honest with ourselves. We can and MUST take part in writing campaigns like Wasiq suggested (count me in please Wasiq- my address is hoodbf@rpi.edu) but lets try and think of more effective measures.

Does anyone know some US Reps. or Senators? Go meet with them. Make a good case and try and get some serious interest in this beyond lip service. And if anybody DOES decide to do this- let us know and we`ll help prepare your case.

One thing that I am hoping we all remember: Nuclear blasts kill not a few thousand, but MILLIONS of people. A single blast in Karachi will take out close to 10 Million people in the first blast. Radiation poisoning will kill another 5 million. A single blast in Calcutta or Bombay will do more damage still.

Hey, I don`t know about you guys, but my family lives there- my whole purpose of being is entrenched in Pakistan. I am really scared about having my dreams and aspirations, and the dreams and aspirations of millions more like me be wiped out by some idiots with toys more powerful than they can conceive.

BTW, does anyone have any further info on the nature of the explosions? I heard the yield was around 25 kilo-tons but that is too small for a thermonuclear device (as it was reported to be.)

Sex Everywhere It`s about time we start dispelling the myths surrounding our society. I think that that is the first step to progress- when we accept the truth and deal with it. Avoiding the issues do us little good.

It takes guts to write an article like ``AA`` has. Hats off to you. I hope that your article will cause many other readers to shed their naiveté as well.

I`d seriously suggest submitting your article to some Pakistani publications. Sure they`ll hack it to piecces, but so long as the central theme makes it through, it`ll do a world of good.

Finally, I hope you will respond to the flak that your article will (has) generated- themes like this need to be thrashed out in the open more.

Best regards,

Faraz

PPESA Seminar: How to Break The Glass Ceiling? AA.

An interesting and informative paper. Mr. Farhat Ali has touched upon an area that I had never really given much thought to; reading his article makes me realize I should have! Thanks for your article Farhat Sb.