The writer is the Chairperson of the Department of History, Forman Christian College, and tweets at @BangashYK.
First, an academic culture takes centuries to develop. The ancient universities of England and Europe did not suddenly emerge; it took a long time before they attracted enough scholars to become leading centres of research. In fact, from its inception in about the 11th century, it took till the High Middle Ages for Oxford to become one of the best universities of the world. The developmental period of a few centuries was critical in making Oxford (and well, Cambridge) the leading university of the world. Several things happened in this period, but the most important was the fact that certain bright scholars committed themselves to stay, research and teach at these universities. If one looks at the early academic centres in Pakistan — Punjab University, Government College, Forman Christian College and even the ones which flourished post-Partition like the universities of Karachi and Sindh — one can find a good list of scholars. However, when one looks at them now, at least in my discipline, history, one can hardly point out anyone even half-decent. Therefore, the ‘brain drain’ from Pakistan is one of the primary causes of the slow death of the academia in Pakistan. Almost all the well-known Pakistani scholars in history, political science, anthropology, are not living or working in Pakistan. What made them leave is obvious, but their absence certainly prevents the nurturing of future scholars in Pakistan. Just imagine if we also had an Irfan Habib or a Romila Thapar at hand, where our research in early and medieval South Asia would be!
Secondly, we have yet to embrace ‘liberal’ education. Yes, this will take a long time, but, at least, a concerted effort needs to be made in this direction. European, and then American, universities flourished after they embraced critical thinking and freedom of expression. Our universities are still mired in an age where not addressing a tutor in an old-fashioned submissive way is still a crime, where students are still ‘children’ and most importantly, where arguing with the tutor is considered disrespectful. In my experience, most tutors do know that they are perpetuating an archaic notion of the academia, but they deliberately do so because they themselves are on a weak footing and do not want anyone to figure it out. It is the rut within, which is eating up the academia more than anything else.
Thirdly and very importantly, the academia has failed to be the nerve centre or the ‘conscience’, as Dr Ali puts it, of society. Academia in Pakistan is notoriously divided and self-centred. Ever since I have come back to Pakistan, I have noticed that most academics like to live in their ivory towers and look with disdain upon others. They also like to pull one another down than help develop others or compete academically. Earlier this year, I, at the prompting of Professor Ayesha Jalal, set up a History Society in Lahore to promote history teaching and research in the city. The society has yet to garner enough interest to keep going for a while since working together to support one another is still a distant dream in Pakistan. In fact, there is very little interaction between universities in the city and seldom does one university invite another for joint initiatives or events — let alone the general public. At least, Lahore certainly has the critical mass to jump-start history teaching and research but it can only be done if we work together. Only then can our collective lament of the slow poisoning of academia be stemmed.
So let me take the first step. The Department of History, Forman Christian College is hosting a lecture by Dr Rajmohan Gandhi, Professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, on Abdul Ghaffar Khan followed by the book launch of his recent superb book entitled Punjab: from Aurangzeb to Mountbatten, at which Dr Mubashar Hasan, Ms Jugnu Mohsin and Mr Raza Rumi will speak. It is on December 5, 2013 at 3pm and all of you are invited.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 3rd, 2013.
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COMMENTS (21)
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Will worthy Professor you rewrite our history textbooks and instead of teaching Ghafar Khan our children that the savage British colonisers were able to colonise the entire subcontinent but not the brave Pashtuns who sent back only one man out of some 20,000 who had come to conquer them in 1849.
Will we also tell our children that that one man, Dr William Brydon, going back alive in horror, did not teach any lesson to the overbearing British lords who sent two more expeditions to the land of the brave Pashtuns, resulting in the so-called Second (1876) and the Third Anglo-Afghan Wars (1919), which taught the British new lessons, after which they changed their modus operandi and found local Hamid Karzais and created a rift in the rank and file of the Pashtuns.
Can we bury ghosts of history, which have haunted us for over a century?
@Author: 1. Yes, it is important to savor and preserve the institution, but interesting also is the case of US universities, most of which are 100 years or so old.
We are still complaining about the brain drain when the world is moving towards global village of information. It is intent that is widely missing. Getting acquainted to knowledge is a click away. Most of the time!
Would also be equally important to share this information to a wider audience, with the advent of technology, which is not a big problem. May I recommend to share the talk on youtube once conducted. Oh no wait! I meant vimeo.
@Yaqoob Bangash: This is disappointing if there is no one to speak on the ancient and medieval history. At least in the preamble, a reference to the beginning of the success story of the modern homo sapiens could be made! Not Africa but the Arabian peninsula was the origin from where they wandered upto south Asia and Australia. Good luck.
Rex Minor
@Lala Gee: Prof Jalal is currently in the US and Prof Ali has been invited to attend the talk. His expertise is ancient and medieval history, which this talk is not about and hence he is not a speaker. Also, its from 3-5pm on thurs at FC College.
@Rashid: That teacher/professor has no other work but to find worms in each and every person,dr.atta ur Rehman etc.and as mentioned before has not produced a single p.hd in his whole career!
Can the writer please address a question of significant importance; Is the title of the article a play on the words of the song "Slow Motion Angreza" of Hindi film "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" ?
What more you can expect in a country where a teacher/professor is called "Jahil" on a live television show.....No wonder why this country is going down the drain........
@Yaqoob Bangash: @Blues:
Thank you both guys for clarification. Very much intend to attend the event, though I wish there were bit more details about the event, like the exact venue and the duration of the program.
Note: Despite Author's courteous clarification, he did not mention why the respected Prof. Ayesha Jalal is not attending this particular event, or why the learned scholars like Dr. Mubarak Ali is not on the speakers list to give the audience wider, and perhaps correct, perspective.
@Lala Gee: Prof Ayesha Jalal chaired the first event of the Society.
Brain drain is necessary to save the residual brain from destruction. The Pakistani mind is toxic and some of it can be saved by allowing it to escape abroad. The brain can return after the Taliban are gone. In the case of Iran this return has not been possible over 40 years which gives us an idea of the time lapse. But the brain must be allowed to drain abroad to escape the poison of the textbooks.
@Khan
According to the respected scientist Pervez Hoodhbhoy maybe 5% of the scientific papers in Pakistan is worth the read. Rest is plagiarism or just nonsense.
@Lala Gee
Prof Ayesha Jalal is based in the US.....another example of "brain drain" highlighted by the author.
you have mentioned the flaws in our universities, I am totally agree with you, furthermore, I would like to add one more draw back of our universities, you see western countries are developing with rapid pace, they are currently inventing the medicine for AIDS, face book, experts of foreign policies and many more. it is because of their sound criteria of studies at universities where students have to go for research to complete their assignments, but here in Pakistan we use to do copy paste and submit our assignments with smartness of tricks. this habit is enough to empower us with passing marks but ultimate result people face in the markets. Most of the graduates do get the proper job because of their low exposure and limited knowledge. Our Nation's progress is very much linked with the progress of universities, where we should produce capable graduates which could bring results in real time.
@Author:
"Earlier this year, I, at the prompting of Professor Ayesha Jalal, set up a History Society in Lahore to promote history teaching and research in the city."
And very strangely, she is not in the list of the speakers of the very first event. Perhaps you didn't invite her, or she chose not to participate. My guess is, this has something to do with the selection of the topic and the invited speakers.
The European attitude is to see reality of things and then shape their worldview around them. Our attitiude is to shape our worldview based on our society's prejudices and then constantly deny truths.
I strongly disagree to Dr Mubarak Ali on the dearth of "original" research in history in Pakistan. There is "NO" research in Pakistan at all. Even if somebody is tasked with research for academic purposes, he looks for shortcuts to fill papers. Long before expecting objective research, we need to develop a culture of research to start with.
Subcontinent on the whole is grave yard of history may it be on politics,religion or else.People with vested interests have butchered facts which, as a result, has created intolerance and irrationality,the other name of jihalt.There is very less research on history and whatever available is,taken as work of some 'paid agents,Public wants to be scholar overnight which is a delusion.Rationality or common sense is the first step to find facts buried deep under the dust.Journey to past riding on popular clichés most often ends in deep ravine.Unfortunately people in this part of the world love to ride on the voyage of clichés always forgetting its hazards. I wish dear professor and his mates all the best for their efforts in search of facts on true basis.
In my experience, most tutors do know that they are perpetuating an archaic notion of the academia, but they deliberately do so because they themselves are on a weak footing and do not want anyone to figure it out.
YES