Pakistans professor mafia

Pervez Hoodbhoy Published about an hour ago

The author teaches physics and mathematics in Lahore and Islamabad.

THESE days Pakistans professors are too busy to read books because they use their time
publishing what are called research papers and procuring PhD degrees for their students. For
example, a world record of sorts was set last month by the Faculty of Management Sciences at the
International Islamic University when five PhD degrees were awarded in quick succession in
areas ranging from finance to psychology all under the supervision of one person who had
received a PhD from a local university (MAJU) five years ago.

Meanwhile, teaching standards continue to plummet. In the so-called hard sciences math,
physics, chemistry and engineering this fact stares you in the face. Student performance
indicators in these subjects tell of a train wreck. The best US science and engineering schools
have graduate departments teeming with Chinese and Indian students but Pakistanis are a rarity.
Most Pakistanis do poorly in the GRE tests required for admission.

Exceptionally talented students are, of course, smart enough to learn anything on their own
anywhere. But the rest may equally well have stayed at home. Their professors have impressive
degrees but poor subject knowledge and hence are poor teachers. Thats because the teachers
who taught these teachers were also this way.

Our universities need to be reoriented towards teaching

and moved away from so-called research.

This has a historical backdrop. Relative to India, for political and cultural reasons, the areas that
currently constitute Pakistan were educationally backward. In 1947, Pakistan had only one
university and just a few colleges. It lost its best faculty members, who were mostly Hindus, to
the subsequent migration. Pakistan has no significant academic tradition to look back to.

Nevertheless, like other post-colonial states, Pakistan slowly cobbled together a modern
university system. Although standards were generally low, there were occasional pockets of
excellence. In 1973, when I joined Islamabad University (later renamed Quaid-i-Azam
University) as a junior lecturer, some departments were comparable to those at a middle-level
American university. Although few PhDs were awarded annually and research publications were
rare, the graph pointed upwards.

A major setback happened in 2002 when, in a bid to boost research and production of PhD
degrees, the Higher Education Commission hooked the promotion, pay, and perks of university
teachers to the number of research papers they published. Teaching became irrelevant. Your
salary was the same whether you taught brilliantly or badly, or how well you knew your subject.

Heres how much productivity boomed: back in 1970-1980, along with 15-20 years of experience,
one needed 12 papers to become a full professor. It was then considered a dauntingly high
number. Many of my colleagues crossed the retirement age of 60 without being promoted. They
were the decent, principled ones who read books.

But once people became aware of a huge pot of money out there, the old system and its ethics
disappeared. No one raises an eyebrow today when a student at the same university publishes 10-
15 papers or more during the course of his PhD studies. Academic crime was made highly
lucrative by HECs new conditions.

Like drug gangs in Chicago, a medley of Cosa Nostra style families now controls much of
Pakistani academia. Each mafia family boss is at least an associate professor, if not full professor.
He has a defined territory, avoids fighting other bosses, and plays the patronage game expertly.
Sometimes he has an underboss (chota) who supervises the factory labour, meaning PhD and
MPhil students. The factory outputs fakeries that resemble actual research so disguised that you
dont get caught.

The impact on genuine academics the ones who maintain professional standards and refuse to
lie or cheat has been devastating. In particular, many young ones lose heart when incompetent
colleagues race ahead in promotions, receive wads of cash for publishing junk papers, rise to top
administrative positions, and be nominated for national awards and prizes.

This scam is privately acknowledged by those connected to university education in Pakistan. I am

told that HEC now regrets its 2002 policy but is paralysed by fear of the powerful Mafiosi that
includes many university vice chancellors, deans, department heads, senior and junior
professors, PhD students, members of HEC, academies of science, learned bodies, and winners of
national awards. Some chair committees and make hiring-firing decisions, making sure that no
one can rock the boat.

This crime syndicate cannot be dismantled by rewarding teaching competence instead of paper
productivity. Judging even one individuals teaching quality within a single department of a
single university is difficult. Preferences based upon religion, sect, ethnicity, and friendships
would make such selections meaningless and create new groupings. Similarly, determining who
is fit to teach at the university level is controversial. Surely one size cannot fit all. From field to
field, and place to place, the answers can be quite different.

But even if there is no perfect answer the bottom line is indisputable: a professor cannot teach
what he doesnt know and has no interest in. There has to be some system for weeding out those
utterly unfit to teach.

Whereas knowing is not easily defined in areas like anthropology or psychology, minimum (or
base) competencies in the hard sciences are determinable. One could exploit the fact that there
are plenty of excellent textbooks used internationally which have chapter-end problems and
exercises with definite answers. Being able to correctly solve some reasonable fraction of these
questions could be one criterion.

Still more robust possibilities can be explored. For example, HEC could insist that all applicants
to a university teaching position pass the examination requirements of appropriate distance
learning courses (MOOCS) such as those prepared by Coursera, Stanford or MIT. With biometric
checking and proper exam proctoring, this may be a cheap, neutral, bias-free assessment of a
candidates suitability. Local yardsticks must never be used.

It is time to reject the grotesque distortion of priorities and reorient Pakistans universities
towards their major responsibility and purpose teaching. Incentivising paper and PhD
production has resulted in mega-corruption. HECs foolish policy must be reversed even though
the professor mafia will bitterly oppose it. Else even duly certified degrees awarded by Pakistani
universities will soon have the worth of an Axact degree.

The author teaches physics and mathematics in Lahore and Islamabad.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2017

Dawn in the shadow of La Giralda
Abbas Nasir Published about an hour ago

The writer is a former editor of Dawn.

NO matter how far you happen to be from home, you are never too far, not at least in terms of
reminders and stories from and of your beloved land.

And I am not talking about smartphones, news websites and social media that bring you the
latest developments from home, whether it is politics, legal battles, bomb blasts or the havoc that
rain can bring to the countrys largest metropolis in a matter of seconds.

I am talking about people. On a weeks break in Andaluca, we have already been to the mountain
town of Cazorla in Jaen province, with its imposing fort and its ramparts(fortification) standing
guard over the town and with neat rows of olive trees running up and down mountains till the eye
can see.

The monastery (religious foundation) on one of the highest peaks is so far above the ground that
you can barely make out its whitewashed shape; it is in Casoria that the over 650 kilometres river
Guadalquivir begins its journey rather modestly as some mountain streams run down into the
valley below.

An old friend visiting Spain recalled his familys long

association with this paper.

We also drove to the town of Linares and found the church where our daughters late grandfather
was baptised more than 90 years ago. Funnily enough, the son of an anarchist and himself a
committed Republican and an atheist, this was as close to religion our beloved Manolo may ever
have come till his passing some six years back.

My own memories of him, since I first met him in 1993 in Madrid when I asked him for his
daughters hand, were of a rebel and non-conformist to the core who had utter contempt for any
form of exploitation most abhorrent to him was the one in the name of faith.
He was a firm believer in human dignity and equality and a man who had to live through the
nightmare of Francos dictatorship while being identified as the son of an anarchist, many of
whose family members were communists (and incarcerated).

Our next stop was Cordova (Cordoba) and the inevitable tour of the Mezquita (mosque) dating
back to the year 784. It became a cathedral after the expulsion of the Moors in the 1200s. Its
columned prayer hall and Byzantine-period tiles present an amazing sight to this day.

The stay in a hotel converted from a huge mansion in the old town was an absolute delight as it
had one of the most splendid, magical patios (even by Cordova standards, where proud home-
owners leave their main doors open for all to marvel at their patios and the narrow lanes have
one flower-bedecked balcony after another, vying with each other for the title of most beautiful
every step of the way.)

Having arrived in Seville (Sevilla to the locals), a quick check-in and depositing the car at the
hotel car park, we were off for lunch near the La Giralda, one of the three minarets of its kind in
the world with the other two predictably in Morocco belonging to the Almohad dynasty period.

Built in 1184-96, sadly the La Giralda remained a mosque minaret for a short period and a little
over 50 years later was taken over by the Christians after the Reconquista. One of the references
says that it was so venerated by the Moors that they wanted to destroy it rather than have it fall
into Christian hands, but were dissuaded by Alfonso X who threatened to put all of them to the
sword if any harm came to La Giralda. This was in 1248. In the next century, the tower survived
an earthquake while suffering some damage and was converted to a cathedral in the early 1400s.

It was this last Thursday in the shadow of the La Giralda that we met an old family friend who
went to school with my elder brother in the 1960s. Jamil Zubairi, who I grew up calling Jamil
Bhai, considering him as close as my own brothers, is an international banker currently based in
Dubai.

As we sat down to lunch off the square where La Giralda is, Jamil Bhai started telling my
daughters about his father Hamid Zubairi, who was a senior journalist. He said during the
Pakistan Movement he worked for a communist paper in Delhi while his wife was a school
principal.
This was when Dawn was a weekly paper. Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah said something
of importance to his followers and constituents but the press chose to ignore the statement.
Hence, the need was felt to convert Dawn into a daily.

Jamil Bhai told us Liaquat Ali Khan called his father and invited him to join the Dawn team in
Delhi. His father wanted to stay on but the violence of Partition (the vehicle which used to take
him to the office and back was burned along with the driver in it) drove them to Karachi, where
Hamid uncle joined Dawn on arrival and continued working till his retirement.

He told my daughters his whole family was pleased no end when I was named editor, Dawn, as
their own association with the newspaper dated back to its initial days and they were so proud of
how the paper became an independent voice in Pakistan, which was so badly needed.

As we finished lunch and the Zubairis hurried off to their hotel to collect their luggage and catch
their train to Madrid from where they were headed back, I sat down in the square and asked
myself whether speaking truth to power then invited such criticism and the wrath of different
state institutions as it does today.

I have serious doubts that things were any better once, following the Quaids passing, all sorts of
political shenanigans began, culminating in outright military rule in 1958 and then the
promulgation of repressive press laws.

Maintaining freedom of expression has and will remain an uphill battle for the foreseeable future.

The writer is a former editor of Dawn.

abbas.nasir@hotmail.com

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2017

Civil disservice
A.G. Noorani Published about an hour ago

The writer is an author and a writer based in Mumbai.

THIS June, a group of 65 retired senior civil servants published an open letter to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi criticising a rising authoritarianism and majoritarianism, which do not allow for
reasoned debate, discussion and dissent. The group includes Ishrat Aziz and Deb Mukharji of
the Indian Foreign Service, Julio Ribeiro and M. Balachandran of the Indian Police Service, and
activist Harsh Mander, who has valiantly sought justice for victims of anti-Muslim pogroms.

The letter is noteworthy for setting a precedent as well as for its contents it pins the blame
squarely on Modi. In Uttar Pradesh, in the run-up to the elections, an odious and frankly
communal comparison was made between the relative number of burial grounds and cremation
grounds. The question was also asked as to whether electricity was being supplied equally to
different communities during their religious festivals. This is a clear reference to remarks made
by Modi while addressing a rally in Lucknow in February.

The integrity of public servants has been undermined in

UP.

The letter also cites official acts that have created a growing climate of religious intolerance that
is aimed primarily at Muslims to wit, tighter curbs on cow slaughter and violence by cow
vigilantes; a crackdown on NGOs; and charges of sedition levelled recklessly, even on 15-year-
olds. It concludes, [W]e appeal to all public authorities, public institutions and constitutional
bodies to take heed of these disturbing trends and take corrective action.

One wishes that such public-spirited persons would also devote attention to the state of the civil
service today. Communal and corrupt politicians in power rule through pliant civil servants.
Vallabhbhai Patel warned against the suborning of the civil service in the Constituent Assembly
in October 1949: The Union will go you will not have a united India, if you have not a good all-
India service which has the independence to speak out its mind, which has a sense of security
that you will stand by your word and that after all there is the Parliament, of which we can be
proud, where their rights and privileges are secure. This constitution is meant to be worked by
a ring of service which will keep the country intact.

He added, Today, my secretary can write a note opposed to my views. I have given that freedom
to all my secretaries. I have told them, if you do not give your honest opinion for fear that it will
displease your minister, please then you had better go.
British works on constitutional law discuss this topic in detail. Indian works neglect it, despite a
long experience of rampant abuse. An independent civil service is as indispensable as any other
institution. In Uttar Pradesh, however, the integrity of the civil service has been gravely
undermined.

It is to such abuses that the 65 brave retirees of the All India Services and Central Civil Services
should now devote their attention. Two in particular merit priority because they lie at the core of
the problem, are illegal and are susceptible to reform. One is arbitrary transfer; not seldom at the
prodding of a legislator from the ruling party.

A judgment by justice Markandey Katju of the Allahabad High Court in May 1997, stated,
[T]ransfers and postings should be solely in the hands of senior officers of the service concerned
and should not be at the behest of, or on the dictates of politicians.

The distinguished former civil servant Braj Kumar Nehru, who served as Indian high
commissioner to the UK, wrote in his memoirs, I also studied the organisation of the Home Civil
Service and how it was that in spite of a vigorous democracy the civil service had retained its
independence in that it was guided by the rules and the law and not by the whims and wishes of
transient ministers.

The answer was simple. All the three powers which are exercised by the minister in India to
bend the civil servant to his will, namely, appointments, transfers and suspensions, are not
exercisable by them at all in the United Kingdom. They are exercised by a very small group of
senior Secretaries presided over by the Secretary of the Civil Service Department who reports to
the Prime Minister direct. It is they who appoint people, transfer them and punish them, not the
ministers.

A transfer is open to judicial review. A suspension must be followed speedily by a charge-sheet

and inquiry. The courts can strike it down if it does not. But their record is uneven.

It is time that distinguished civil servants get together and draw up a paper documenting abuses
and proposing effective reforms. A model worth emulating is the UKs Civil Service Code, which
has statutory sanction in the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act, 2010.

The writer is an author and a writer based in Mumbai.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2017

Jumping ship
Irfan HusainPublished about an hour ago

irfan.husain@gmail.com

THOSE loud squeals you hear are the sound of rats deserting the sinking ship. And if its not
going under immediately, the PPP is certainly leaking members at a rapid rate.

The latest deserter from PPP ranks is Babar Awan, and he joins a longish list of mid-level and
senior members to have made a beeline for parties that appear to have better chances of winning
in next years elections. By voting with their feet, they have made it clear that they think their old
party will get hammered at the polls yet again.

Co-chairman of the party, Bilawal Zardari-Bhutto, says he doesnt give a fig for the leaders who
have recently switched sides to Imran Khans PTI. Bilawal declared that he only cared for the
jiyalas, and with their support, would see the party back in power.

Dream on, Bilawal. Or rather, wake up and smell the coffee. The stark reality is that Pakistans
political landscape has changed a lot since the PPP was the party of the young. That title has now
gone to the PTI: after several stints in office at the centre and in Sindh, few people now believe
the PPP has anything to offer, apart from enriching senior members.

The saga of switching parties at the drop of a hat has a

long history.

As somebody who has supported the party for much of my adult life, it gives me no pleasure to
write it off as a political force. But any illusions I might have had about the PPP have evaporated
over the last decade of watching Asif Zardari at the helm first at the centre, and now in Sindh.
Unfortunately, the prospect of young Bilawal being in charge at some point in the future does not
fill me with optimism.

The saga of switching parties at the drop of a hat or the whiff of power has a long and
discredited history in Pakistan. In fact, the practice has placed the humble lota the familiar
container used for ablutions at the centre of our political discourse. Before a constitutional
amendment forced turncoats to resign their parliamentary seats, members would routinely sell
their votes and their loyalties.

Who can forget the 1989 no-confidence motion moved against the government when the ruling
PPP allegedly flew its MNAs to Swat to prevent them from being bought by the opposition? Or,
the PML sequestering its representatives in an Islamabad hotel where a citizen with a mordant
sense of humour delivered a truckload of lotas.

But while we may rail at political opportunism, we need to recognise that some politicians leave a
party because it has drifted away from its stated objectives. Of course, everybody jumping ship
says this, just as Babar Awan stated he has joined the PTI because he seeks justice.

Over the years, few of these deserters have fared well. Partly, this is because they are
understandably mistrusted by their new colleagues. And if they are denied tickets before an
election, they move on, seeing no benefit in remaining loyal.

Thus, many of our politicians have switched parties multiple times, justifying each move as
ideologically motivated. In reality, of course, its mostly down to thwarted ambitions. Generally
speaking, its the party with the greatest prospect of getting into power that attracts the biggest
number of lotas.

By this calculus, its Imran Khans PTI that appears to be the refuge of choice for deserters.
Despite opinion polls indicating victory for the PML-N next year, its the PTI that seems to have
the wind in its sail. With the Sharif familys political fortunes hostage to the judiciary, many
punters are placing their bets on Imran Khan.

But this influx of so-called electables is upsetting many old members in PTI ranks. They fear
these newcomers will gain favour with the Great Khan, displacing the old guard. Already, these
tensions have produced open warfare within the party.

Unfortunately, most of our political parties with the exception of the Jamaat-i-Islami are
one-man shows, or family affairs where leadership is hereditary. Thus, the PTI would splinter
tomorrow without Imran Khan, just as the PML-N would without the Sharif brothers. And the
PPP would virtually cease to exist without the Bhutto name.
Party leaders do not wish to elevate senior members for fear of a coup. Thus, when in exile they
choose to micro-manage party affairs from afar rather than delegate authority to senior party
figures. A prime example is Altaf Hussain who ran the feared MQM by telephone for decades
from London until his downfall.

One reason leaders avoid genuine elections within their parties is that the results might go
against their own preferences for the top slots. This insecurity and distrust of the judgment of
party workers undermines any prospects of institutional foundations.

As long as politics is seen as a way of making money and protecting vested interests, lota culture
will continue to thrive.

irfan.husain@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2017

Monsoon mayhem (chaos)

EditorialPublished about an hour ago

THE pre-monsoon rains that hit southern Sindh on the last two days of June were heavy, but not
so unusual as to justify the massive chaos that ensued. The heaviest downpours were seen in the
Badin-Karachi-Thatta belt, though only in Badin did they approach the historic highest rainfall in
a 24-hour period. Karachi saw 58mm the historic highest in a 24-hour period in the city is
77mm of rain on Thursday and early Friday morning. Yet the heavy flooding on the streets and
the prolonged outages of power that followed presented an apocalyptic scene. One can only
wonder what will happen when the real downpours threaten to engulf the city in the approaching
weeks.

The level of preparedness for the annual rainy season is diminishing in many parts of the country
as the focus of those in government is almost exclusively on brick-and-mortar construction
projects. Once again, we are entering the rainy season with a largely obsolete or dysfunctional
weather forecasting system. Once again, poor drainage and the absence of credible flood alerts
have left the population vulnerable to sudden surges in river flows, or the inundation of urban
areas. The responsibility for tasks such as clearing the storm water drains lies with the
practically non-functioning local governments and municipal authorities. This is a classic case
of a precious resource, ie local government representatives, not being utilised in Lahore,
Karachi and elsewhere. Elected councillors have usually been called upon to look after the sewage
and drainage system. But here, it seems that provincial officials obsessed with concentrating
powers in their own hands want to deny the LGs even this basic function. The upper tiers should
focus on specific assignments such as ensuring that a proper forecasting system is in place. No
one should be allowed to shirk their duties. Indeed, heavy rains are not a new phenomenon, and
it is appalling that even today, after several years of rain-related flooding in different parts of the
country, we should be flying blind into the oncoming monsoon season.

The other risk that follows such inundation is the outbreak of water- and vector-borne illnesses.
While Lahore has tackled the problem to a large extent, it was not too many years ago that a
dengue epidemic broke out in the city as a result of mosquitoes breeding in stagnant pools of
rainwater. In Karachi, besides the dengue concern, the presence of the deadly brain-eating
amoeba has led authorities to issue instructions for chlorination of water especially in light of the
approaching monsoons. Whether in towns, cities or rural areas, the regular drainage of standing
water and fumigation should be routine during the rainy season, while the authorities should
ensure that power transmission and distribution systems dont collapse at the slightest sign of
rain. The recent rain-related havoc in Karachi has only underscored the need for remedial
measures.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2017

JIT and PMs daughter

EditorialUpdated 6 minutes ago

HER father, the prime minister, has appeared before the JIT as has her paternal uncle, the chief
minister of Punjab.

Both her brothers have already appeared multiple times before the investigation team and are
required to do so again.

Her sisters father-in-law, the finance minister, may also be summoned.

Each of those individuals has publicly expressed their reservations about the composition and
functioning of the JIT, but all of them have pledged to cooperate with it as required by the law.

So why should Maryam Nawaz Sharif be treated differently? The furious reaction of the PML-N
to Ms Sharifs summons by the JIT is puzzling.

The PML-N appears to be simultaneously arguing that the daughter of the prime minister is
capable enough to succeed her father as the leader of the party, and perhaps the country one day,
and needs to be shielded from answering questions by a legally constituted investigation team.

Or perhaps the party believes that because Ms Sharif may one day become leader of the party,
and perhaps of the country, she must not suffer the indignity of having to appear before an
inquiry team. Neither argument is even remotely convincing.

Perhaps the most insidious argument deployed by the PML-N is that as a woman, the daughter of
the prime minister deserves special treatment.

This may appeal to quaint notions of honour and family reputation, but it does nothing to
address the PML-Ns record on women.

Where, for example, is the PML-Ns condemnation of one of its senior-most leaders, Khawaja
Asif, and his repeated, wildly misogynistic remarks against political opponents who happen to be
women?

If the mere summoning of Ms Sharif by the JIT is an affront to the dignity of women, what does
tolerance for misogyny in the PML-Ns ranks say about the partys treatment of women?

Going further back in history, when the PML-N was confronted by a towering political opponent
in Benazir Bhutto, the party was a pathological offender when it came to attacking the late PPP
leader for her gender.

The only thing that appears to have changed is that the PML-N now faces the possibility of its
leader nominating his daughter as his successor, a scenario that has suddenly awakened the
PML-N to the dignity of women.
Maryam Nawaz Sharif is an ambitious politician; she must be treated fairly and justly, but the law
ought to be gender-neutral.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2017

Journalists arrest
EditorialPublished about an hour ago

THE arrest of a journalist in Quetta on Sunday illustrates the extent to which the legislation on
electronic crimes can be used to stifle dissent. Zafarullah Achakzai, a reporter for a Quetta-based
daily, was taken into custody by security personnel in plainclothes, a questionable modus
operandi in itself, and charges were filed against him by the FIA under the Prevention of
Electronic Crimes Act, 2016. Mr Achakzais crime, according to his family, was to have posted
comments against national security institutions on social media. His remarks were critical of
the police for having arrested MPA Majeed Achakzai after a traffic policeman in Quetta was run
over by a four-wheeler apparently driven by the legislator. In the process, the reporter also
questioned the competence and integrity of the security agencies, in particular the Frontier Corps
which is at the forefront of law-enforcement in Balochistan.

One may disagree, even vehemently, with Mr Achakzais opinions. For him to be arrested for
expressing them, however, is taking things too far. Rights campaigners fought an extended and
ultimately futile battle against the more draconian provisions in the electronic crimes bill before
it was passed last year. Civil societys misgivings, particularly over those sections of the law that
were vaguely worded and could thus be liberally interpreted to intimidate citizens, were clearly
justified. Many branches of the state apparatus do not always function according to acceptable
standards. Are the people of this country, ostensibly a democracy, not entitled to the democratic
freedom to speak their minds? Speech that incites violence or hatred is one thing, but to clamp
down on criticism, valid or otherwise, of institutional shortcomings is quite different. Moreover,
even though he was acting in a personal capacity on this occasion, Mr Achakzais arrest also
raises concerns about the medias watchdog role. After all, it is often reporting by journalists that
results in uncomfortable questions being asked of the authorities, an inconvenience that an
increasingly authoritarian state would surely be pleased to do away with.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2017

Raymond Davis pens tell-all on 2011
Pakistan incident
Dawn.comUpdated 2 days ago

24

Raymond Davis United States citizen and ex-Central Intelligence Agency employee who
sparked a diplomatic storm in Pakistan in 2011 after shooting dead two young men in Lahore
has written a book about his experience.

In his memoir, titled The Contractor: How I Landed in a Pakistani Prison and Ignited a
Diplomatic Crisis, Davis talks in detail about his experience in Pakistan.

According to its description, the book is, "an up-close and personal look at the 2011 incident in
Lahore, Pakistan, that led to his [Davis's] imprisonment and the events that took place as
diplomats on both sides of the bargaining table scrambled to get him out".

On January 27, 2011, Lahore's Lytton Road police had registered a case against Davis on the
charge of killing two Pakistani citizens, Faizan and Faheem, at downtown Qurtaba Chowk. Two
traffic wardens had chased down the suspect, who pleaded he had killed the bike-riders in 'self-
defence' after they tried to rob him.

The killings had rocked Pakistan and strained ties between Islamabad and Washington. The US
pressed for diplomatic immunity for Davis, leading to some clear and many ambiguous responses
from officials in Pakistan. Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who was the foreign minister at the time the
incident took place, had stated that the arrested American didnt enjoy diplomatic immunity.

The US plea was weakened when it came out that the man arrested was actually one of the CIA's
operatives in Pakistan. The pardon granted to him in exchange for blood money also meant an
implicit admission on the part of the US that Davis either didnt qualify for immunity or the team
fighting his case had lost all hope of being able to convince the authorities here that he enjoyed
such a status.

The Lahore High Court had left the decision to the trial court.
The tension-filled saga spread over more than a month and a half was brought to an abrupt
conclusion on March 16, 2011, when Davis was released and quickly flown out of Pakistan after
the heirs of the two youths he had shot dead told the court they had accepted monetary
compensation to settle the case.

While working in India I was very conscious that it's not my

country: Ali Zafar

MADEEHA SYED
DAWN
Ali Zafar opens up about merging movies with martial arts, working in India and his new-found
mellowness

Much like vampires that appear ageless, Ali Zafar is growing...

young.

Thats the first impression I got of him when I met him for a heart-to-
heart about his upcoming film. Time seems be in love with him; he
doesnt look very different from when I first interviewed him almost 11
years ago. Ali admits hes been on a very strict diet and exercise
regimen all in preparation for his upcoming film, Teefa in Trouble.

The interview took place in a meeting room at a local five-star hotel.

Were occasionally interrupted by members of the staff who, while
leaving, ask Ali if they can take a photo with him. After the interview,
he promises them.

This isnt anything new. The first time I interviewed him, back in 2006
right before his second album was coming out, the only time he had
available to talk was for a short coffee before, during and right after
arriving at the airport to catch a flight. Back then, in public places
people would maintain a respectful distance but someone would
approach him occasionally and without breaking off in mid-sentence,
Ali would simply take the paper they had, give them an autograph and
return it to them. It seemed almost routine.

Back then I had written how, When we start talking his eyes develop
a sharp focus and he transforms into a serious, focused person, quite
unlike the light-headed, fun-loving guy we are used to watching on
screen. Ali has an uncanny ability to observe little details and has a
knack for making insightful observations that appear ironic most of the
time. He is also a lot smarter than he lets on.

He retains his tendency to become sombre while in conversation. The

difference is that there is a marked softness, coming across as
thoughtful in his approach now. Perhaps it is a natural by-product of
having had more than a decade of experience under his belt, or
perhaps from being a father.

While I was working in India I was very conscious of the fact that this
is not my country, says Ali Zafar as we sit down for a chat. Pakistan
is my country. Things between India and Pakistan are very uncertain.
Things can come to a stop anytime. Which is why, contrary to popular
perception, I never shifted my base to India.

It was while he was working on a Bollywood film called Chashme

Baddoor (2013) that Ali decided he was going to work on his first
Pakistani film. He had an idea for a story. The first thing he did was
call the ad film director Ahsan Rahim. We really get along well, says
Ali, adding that when it came to creative work, they have always been
on the same wavelength.

We worked on that idea for a year and a half and then we discarded
it, he adds. Then I worked on another idea called Deosai. For 15-20
days, I went to the north to do my research, discover and feel the
place now. And I felt its a little early to invest so much money into
filming action up there it will be very difficult. So perhaps, for the
first film, do something thats a little more practical.

We started off with an idea to make an action comedy, then romance

came into play and then the songs. And hence Teefa in
Trouble was born.

Does Ali think hes well-suited to play, a

regular, excuse-my-use-of-the-
word painduperson? "I can because Im a
Punjabi na," he responses, his accent
becoming thick and strong. "I come from
a mohalla in Lahore. Thats who I am from
inside."
Set in androon shehr [inner city] Lahore, the movie centres on a
character that keeps finding himself in precarious situations and has
to find a way out of them. It also involves a lot of action. Does Ali think
hes well-suited to play, a regular, excuse-my-use-of-the-
word paindu person?

I can because Im a Punjabi na, he responses, his accent becoming

thick and strong. I come from a mohalla in Lahore. Thats who I am
from inside. With time, you become a little polished, but I know who I
am and where I come from. I know the language, the streets, how
people talk and their mannerisms.

The artist underwent a complete physical transformation for the film.

Theres a lot of action that finds the character fighting baddies and
escaping through the streets of Lahore. According to Ali, physically
preparing for the role took almost three months. I really cut down on
everything, he says, I was very particular about my diet and
exercise. There was a time I was working out twice a day once to
go to the gym, the other for my martial arts training. That really
knackers you down.

That was hard, he says referring to learning marital arts. Gym was a
piece of cake compared to that.

Ali says he's been on a very strict diet and exercise regimen all in
preparation for his upcoming film, Teefa in Trouble.
How did his wife feel about all of the time he committed to preparing
for this role before filming even began? She liked it, he laughs.
What wife doesnt like a six pack [abs]?

That fitness was also required on the set because we were filming 16
hours a day, he says. There were days when in the morning I would
be required to do my scenes and in the evening, I had to do the
action.
It was a complete change in lifestyle altogether. I didnt see a lot of
my friends. No parties just simple, clean focus. It was like how a
boxer would start training for a fight.

They worked with both a local and foreign fight choreographer for the
film. I had so much fun! he says talking about doing the action
sequences. To fight and to dance are pretty much the same things, Ali
stresses, as he demonstrates his point by slowly and gracefully
moving through a small sequence, counting the numbers of each step
as it progresses.

Theyve wrapped up the shoot in Lahore. The second phase of filming

is currently taking place in... Poland. We wanted to have Eastern
European architecture in the film something that hasnt been seen
before, says Ali. You put a camera in London and everyone knows
its London. Ive already shot two films in London.

Does he struggle to adapt between Ali Zafar the singer and the actor?
I think its about striking that fine balance, he responds. There was
another script in the works that centred on being a musician but Ali
refused to entertain that one. I dont want to do that because that will
just have me play myself, he says, Maybe later. Thats why I also
chose Tere Bin Laden as my first film in India, as opposed to another
film [I had been offered in] which I wouldve played a musician.

Eight films (and guest appearances in two others) in, and Ali is tired of
playing similar characters. Ive had this look of a romantic hero or a
chocolate hero, he says, seeming slightly embarrassed. Mein bore
ho gaya hun uss image say. Mujhay shave nahin karni [Im bored of
that image. I dont want to shave]. Teefa is unlike any character that
Ive done before.

Ali is also producing the film and is quite optimistic about its outcome.
Weve edited about 50 per cent of the film, he says. As far as my
instincts go, since the beginning of my career, from what Ive seen, its
something that people will get to see for the first time in Pakistani
cinema whether its action or the way its been shot. I cant wait for
people to see it.

On Bollywood
Ali had been filming for Tere Bin Laden when the 2008 Mumbai
Attacks took place. Luckily, I only had two days of filming left, he
related to me during an interview back then. Quite a few media
professionals working in India at that time had to come back to
Pakistan. What about him? The Indian media instantly started
thrashing Pakistan but on the ground level nothing changed, things
were still pretty normal for me, he had related.

This fallout was completely different from what happened last year
after the Uri attacks. Pressured by a right-wing political party in India,
Pakistani actors were banned from Bollywood. Caught in the middle
of all of this were Fawad and Mahira Khan. Did he feel a sense of dj
vu watching how everything unfolded?

"I realized that the difference between

now and then because something
much bigger had happened before was
the presence and emergence of social
media."
My own brother Danyal was there, Ali relates. Hed been there for
two months prepping for a film with Yash Raj. He was being launched
by them. He was going to start filming in a week. My film Dear
Zindagi was about to come out. Initially when this happened, one
didnt know what to make of it and when it was escalated to that level,
I sat back and pondered [over it].

"I realised that the difference between now and then because
something much bigger had happened before was the presence
and emergence of social media." Social media tends to escalate
things.

But being an optimist, I always see a silver lining, he stresses.

Things happen at a certain time for a certain reason. Theres no point
thinking and wasting your energy in trying to figure out what
happened. I always knew this could happen one day. And as I was
saying before was that we need to build our own industry. My film was
already in preproduction, I was already thinking Pakistan.
It runs in the family
Ali Zafar has a younger brother and judging by the photos posted on
his Instagram (he has a whopping 102,000 followers already) account,
good looks run in the family.

Danyal is 15 years younger than me, says Ali. Ive almost raised
him like a son. He just amazes me and makes me feel very proud with
the things he can do, the way he thinks and the man that hes
become.

People have only seen photos of him, so

he does look like me, he cant change
that. But hes a different individual. So,
when that Daniyal Zafar comes out.
People will see a whole new different side
to him."
Baby bro has also worked on the movie with his older brother. He
studied filmmaking from the New York Film Academy, relates Ali, He
was with us during the script and writing [process] as well. Someday
hes going to be in front of the camera. He needs to go through the
grind, and know what these people [the crew] feel like.

In terms of music, the older brother says his younger brother has a
completely different take than his. Hes into blues and jazz, says
Zafar. Hes got a different tonality entirely. Hes a good actor but
music is his first thing.

Danyal grew up watching Ali become the personality that he is. Does
he feel Danyal takes inspiration from him? In the photos at least, the
resemblance between the two brothers is uncanny. He has his own
distinct style, stresses Ali. People have only seen photos of him, so
he does look like me, he cant change that. But hes a different
individual. So, when that Daniyal Zafar comes out. People will see a
whole new different side to him. I feel that in many ways, hes more
talented than I am.

Originally published in Dawn, ICON, June 25th, 2017

A question of celebrity endorsements
Updated about 22 hours ago
By Talha bin Hamid
The dos and don'ts of celebrity endorsements.

NikeLab Introduces a New Version of the Air Oscillate for Roger Federer screams my Twitter feed.
Whats more, this tweet came from The Fed himself.

Roger Federer is a juggernaut as far as marketing is concerned. Considered to be the greatest tennis player
of all time, Federer only added to his almost mythical persona by winning the Australian Open in 2017 at
35 long after everyone had written him off. He remains an unflappable gentleman on and off the court,
has four (yes, four!) adorable kids, and is the star attraction wherever he goes. Latest case in point: Pippa
Middletons wedding. The guy has his own logo, for heavens sake.

Therefore it only makes sense that Federer is the face of luxury brands, such as Rolex, Mercedes Benz,
Moet & Chandon and Lindt. What is a Rolex? A heavy, garish watch set apart by its price. Is a Nike shoe
necessarily superior to cheaper alternatives? Is a Mercedes really that much better than a Toyota?

As they say, if you need to ask.

Luxury brands, by definition, defy logic. They are not bought for their value for money or features. The
buyer buys the brand, and the right to flaunt it, thereby gaining access to an elite club.

That said, celebrity endorsements are not confined to luxury brands. Remember this?

Pepsi has a long history of sponsoring cricket in Pakistan. From Madonna to Michael Jackson to Kendall
Jenner to leading footballers, Pepsi has been using celebrities to communicate their brand values. The
slogans have changed, but the underlying message is the same: drink Pepsi and be like the beautiful
people.

Celebrity endorsements can be tricky. A brand is influenced by the career and life choices of a celebrity.
Case in point: Kendall Jenner, not the most liked of celebrities, recently starred in an ad where she stopped
a protest with the power of... you guessed it Pepsi. Her elite status and the daft manner in which she was
portrayed as a uniting force between the protesters and the establishment backfired. The ad sparked
international outrage and Pepsi had to withdraw the ad and apologize.

Similarly, when Tiger Woods started going downhill due to various unfortunate scandals in 2009, his
sponsors withdrew and scrambled to dissociate themselves. General Motors, Gillette, Accenture and
Gatorade dropped Woods to avoid negative connotations. Nike stuck with him and lost customers. The
golf industry saw a major revenue slowdown without Woods on the courses. Similarly, Michael Jacksons
alleged child exploitation scandals in the early nineties and Madonnas controversial videos both hit Pepsi
hard.

Celebrity endorsements can act as an instant boost for brand recognition or as a way to maintain brand
equity. Firdous lawn, relatively unknown at the time, made waves by having Kareena Kapoor flaunt their
latest collection. The impact of the campaign, which catapulted Firdous to major player status overnight,
can be felt to this day.

Some Pakistani brands have a long history of defining themselves through the celebrities of their time.
Who can forget Lux, which to this day chooses to engage the leading actresses of the time (and in a few
cases, actors). Lipton too has had a long association with celebrities such as Nayyer Sultana, Sabiha
Khanum and Nazia and Zoheb Hasan. These days, their celebrity-less ads barely make an impact.
In recent years, thanks to cross over Indian campaigns and endorsements, the stakes are stratospheric. Lux
expanded their reach to Shah Rukh and Deepika and Veet, Pantene and Sunsilk have made it a point to
showcase Bollywoods leading ladies as their ambassadors. In 2014, QMobile made waves by using
Kareena Kapoor for their Z4 campaign. The phone was their top of the line offering and Kapoor was used
to showcase their smart features. QMobile has continued with this strategy by using Shahid Kapoor,
Arjun Kapoor and others for their product launches.

However, have we reached saturation point? Juhi Chawla a classy gem of an actress, yet when she tries to
peddle Gai Banaspati, with poorly conceived branding, a generic-to-the-core ad (and an admittedly catchy
jingle), one questions whether celebrity endorsement is a substitute for creativity. Are our advertisers
simply trawling for fame to attach to their product, or do they care whether the celebrity connects to the
brand in a meaningful way?

Take the Sunrise washing powder ad featuring Salman Khan. Yes, he has cultivated a near-invincible guy-
next-door persona with his movies, but are we seriously to believe that he personally buys his washing
powder and watches his wife use it? Or how about this: in the middle of dinner you are subjected to an
unwashed toilet beneath the beaming faces of Fahad Tunio or Faisal Qureshi. In the Harpic ads, the
housewives exclaim the name of the actor when they knock on the door, so there is no question of them
playing a character. Harpic, after all, belongs in the toilet; it is these actors who should think about their
own equity before agreeing to lend themselves to such campaigns. You certainly will not see Leonardo
DiCaprio endorsing WD-40.

The major difference between east and west is that in the west celebrities are shown in a believable setting
when endorsing a brand, whereas in the subcontinent, celebrities take on another persona to promote the
brand. Both approaches are worlds apart and are indicative that we have a long way to go in how learning
how to effectively manage celebrity endorsements.

Rolex is aspirational; it just needs to tell time and the advertising just shows Federer wearing the watch,
and thats that.

Pepsi, a high density sugar drink and what with carbonated drinks maligned the world over for their health
risks; the product does not have an intrinsic benefits or value. Therefore, it makes sense for Pepsi use
celebrities sell their product based on the association with a certain lifestyle.

Then there are brands such as QMobile, Samsung, Veet, which need to project their attributes equally with
whichever celebrity they are using. Veet never forgets to highlight its ease of use towards a shiny skin.
Similarly, Samsung did employ Fawad Khan but it also came up with a new portmanteau for the wide-
angle selfie (Grandfie) which was heavily promoted by him.

So: Either the brand is so strong that the only sensible advertising is latching onto another brand (a
celebrity), or the brand needs to fend off competition and the only real competitive advantage it has is a
celebrity endorsement. That said, this is not the 80s anymore. Everyone knows everything. When we see
Younus Khan in an HBL ad, we know that the legendary player is, in fact, a HBL employee and plays on
their team. When we see Kareena Kapoor flaunting a QMobile set, on the other hand, we think, oh they
must have paid her a handsome amount rather than thinking that she would actually use the set. Were it
Apple or Samsung, though, the credibility gap would be narrower.

In the end, it is the credibility: make it believable and we will fall for the celebrity endorsement. A
substandard product with availability issues will not sell, no matter who endorses it.