Fahad Chaudhry: Imran govt removes Ahmadi economist from advisory council under pressure from Islamists // Zarrar Khuhro: Atif Mian and the kingdom of clowns
The Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Insaf government has asked Princeton University economist Atif
R. Mian to step down from the Prime Minister Imran Khan-led Economic Advisory
Council (EAC), PTI Senator Faisal Javed Khan announced on Friday. The decision
follows mounting
pressure from religio-political parties against the appointment of Dr
Mian, who is an Ahmadi. According to a tweet
by Senator Javed, Mian has agreed to give up his position on the council. A
replacement will be announced later, he added. Minister of Information Fawad
Chaudhary later confirmed the development, saying the government has decided to
withdraw the nomination of Dr Mian from the EAC because it wants to avoid
division.
The appointment of Dr
Mian of Princeton University (Department of Economics and Woodrow Wilson School
of Public Policy) to the 18-member EAC set up to advise the government on
economic policy was opposed by some individuals and groups, including
Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), who objected to his Ahmadi faith. The news of
his removal from the body comes as a surprise since the PTI government had only
three days ago defended
the academic's nomination, saying in categorical terms that it will
"not bow to extremists". "Pakistan belongs as much to minorities
as it does to the majority," Information Minister Chaudhary had told a
press conference in Islamabad, amidst a vicious online campaign targeting Dr
Mian for his Ahmadiyya faith.
Zarrar Khuhro: Atif Mian and the kingdom of clowns
"The government
wants to move forward alongside scholars and all social groups, and it is
inappropriate if a single nomination creates an impression to the
contrary," he tweeted. In a second tweet, Chaudhry said the ideal state,
according to Prime Minister Khan, is of Madina and that the premier and members
of his cabinet hold Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in high esteem. "Khatm-i-Nabuwwat [belief
in the finality of the prophethood] is a part of our faith and the recent
success achieved by the government in the matter of blasphemous sketches is
reflective of the same connection," he wrote.
Chaudhry had taken to
Twitter to recall that "Quaid e Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah appointed Sir
Zafar Ullah [also an Ahmadi] as Foreign minister of Pakistan; we'll follow
[the] principles of Mr Jinnah, not of extremists." His thoughts were
echoed by Minister of Human Rights Shireen Mazari, who tweeted: "Exactly.
Well put indeed. Time to reclaim space for the Quaid's Pakistan!" The
first meeting of the recently reconstituted EAC was presided over by Prime
Minister Imran Khan on Thursday, but it could not be attended by three
international economists of Pakistani origin, including Dr Mian, because of
technical reasons. “They could not make it because our web-link was down,” an
official told Dawn.
Smear campaign: A social media smear
campaign had erupted against the economist's appointment, with many calling for
his removal. A call-to-attention notice had also been submitted in the Senate
by opposition parties against Mian's inclusion in the EAC. The notice bore the
signatures of the PML-N, Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal and the Pakhtunkhwa Milli
Awami Party members. No member of the PPP had signed the document, with the
party making it clear that it would not be part of a witch-hunt based on
someone's faith.
A large number of
supporters had also defended Mian's appointment on social media, saying that
one's religion should not factor into their professional qualifications or
employment. Dr Mian has served as a professor of economics, public policy and
finance at Princeton University and as director of The Julis-Rabinowitz Centre
for Public Policy and Finance at Woodrow Wilson School. He is the only
Pakistani to be considered among International Monetary Fund’s ‘top 25
brightest young economists’. Ahmadis were declared non-Muslims in Pakistan
through a constitutional amendment passed on September 7, 1974 during the
tenure of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. This measure was later followed with Gen Ziaul
Haq making it a punishable offence for Ahmadis to call themselves Muslim or to
refer to their faith as Islam.
With the appointment
of an Economic Advisory Council comprising some very highly skilled and
world-renowned economists, it seemed as if the governance train had left the
station at an impressive clip. But the ride got
bumpy; one of the economists happened to be Atif Mian — his impressive CV was
the reason for being on this council — but alas, in a completely predictable
development — it was his faith that became an issue.
There was a tweet —
quickly deleted and disowned — from the Pakistan People's Party Shehla Raza.
Then a notice in the Senate and National Assembly, presented by Jamiat
Ulema-i-Islam-F and signed off by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N),
Jamaat-i-Islami, Awami National Party, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party and the
National Party... read more:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1431724/atif-mian-and-the-kingdom-of-clowns