Student refuses Harvard scholarship to protest Mohmand attack
ISLAMABAD, June 18: A Pakistani student, Samad Khurram, refused his Harvard University scholarship award presented to him by the US Ambassador Anne W. Patterson.
The student refused the award during a function organized by the Roots College International at the National Arts Gallery Islamabad on Wednesday in protest against the recently carried out American attacks on Mohmand Agency.
Ms. Patterson was attending a special ceremony as chief guest. The College had invited 188 of its former students who received scholarships to study at various American colleges and universities. Parents of the students were present, along with Mrs. Zahida Kiayni, the wife of the Chief of Army Staff Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kiyani.
Instead of sucking up to the U.S. ambassador, like many Pakistani officials choose to do, Samad had on his mind the blood of over 30 Pakistanis, half of them soldiers, who were killed on the soil of their homeland on June 10 when the Americans sided with Karzai thugs, also known as the ‘Afghan national army’, and used massive air power to target a peaceful Pakistani border post.
Ms. Patterson and other U.S. embassy officials were shocked and embarrassed when Samad walked to the stage to receive his award but then announced he was refusing the honor to protest the unprovoked American violation of Pakistani airspace and the murder of innocent Pakistanis.
A shaken Ms. Patterson smiled sheepishly and tried to make the best out of an embarrassing moment.
In her speech the US ambassador regretted these attacks, terming them a “terrible misunderstanding”, and refuted the notion that the student was refusing the award, maintaining that currently there were 5,400 Pakistani students studying in America.
The US ambassador, Anne W. Patterson, underscored the need for “people to people ties” to strengthen the relationship between Pakistan and the US.
“There is a myth that American universities are hesitant to accept students from Pakistan,” Ms Patterson told graduates of the Roots School System who received private scholarships to study in the United States and other countries. “All together, 5,400 students from Pakistan studied at US colleges and universities last year,” she added.
Congratulating the management of the Roots School System for “twenty years of outstanding service in educating young people in Pakistan,” the ambassador said she was impressed with Roots students who earned full scholarships to study at selected universities such as Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Dartmouth.
“With your educational opportunities, you are the natural future leaders in whatever profession you may choose,” Ms Patterson told the students. She urged them to “focus not only on getting top grades but also on broadening your vision and finding how you can best serve society after you obtain your degree”.
The unfortunate part is that no one present in the huge hall of NCA joined this nationalist young Pakistani in his gesture. At the very least, Pakistanis present in the hall should have given him a standing ovation.
The other unfortunate part is that none of the 80 or so Pakistani news channels highlighted the incident. Why did we allow private Pakistani channels in the first place? Wasn’t it to project Pakistani position to the world? If this was the Indian media, if this was the Chinese media, if this was the Iranian media, if this was the Arab media, if this was Turkish media, this incident would have been repeated at the top of every news bulletin for the day.
I hope some of the defeatist ‘liberal’ Pakistanis working for television news channels might be reading this. If you know someone there, please admonish them. I know plenty myself. But I work for one. I don’t own it. Never will.
It is sad that ordinary Pakistanis will always be more nationalist and patriotic than their so-called ‘liberal’ intellectuals and their non-intellectual politicians.
But Samad Khurram, no matter what, we are proud of you.
I urge my fellow nationalist Pakistanis to email Samad and congratulate him. His email is
[email protected]
