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Posts Tagged Atta-ur-Rehman

Dr.Atta-ur-Rehman : The Destroyer of Higher Education in Science,Technology, & Innovation in Pakistan.Or Why Pakistan is No.47, India is No.10 on Global Scientific Rankings?

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

When it comes to education, what’s at stake is obvious: our future. When corruption prevents young people from exercising their fundamental right to attend school and receive an education, people lose out on their potential and society suffers. Identifying and eliminating corruption in the education sector is key to ensuring that learning opportunities remain accessible to all.  (Transparency Organization)

 

 

Attaur Rehman’s Narcissistic Personality- Loves Media Spotlight
 
 
 
Dr.Att ur Rehman has fooled a poor and illiterate nation. He calls himself Fellow of Royal Society.  Most Pakistanis do not know that to become a Fellow of Royal Society one has to be nominated by another Fellow of Royal Society. Dr.Att ur Rehman due to his opportunist personality, has made lots of friends among British scientists, who are FRS . He meets during his political junkets to scientific meetings as a representative of Pakistan scientific establishment.images-42 in Britain. If one know enough of these FRS, it is easy to get nominated. It is a nominated position, NOT an elected position.  
Dr.Atta ur Rehman is worried. Pakistani legislators are asking tough questions from him. He is feeling the heat, because his hegemony and fiefdom as the Czar of Higher Education Authority is being challenged. If there is ONE good thing the current PPP government has done, it is, asking hard questions from this Goldfinger or Dr.NO of Pakistan’s Scientific Establishment. Even the aggressive Pakistani media and its anchors treats this charlatan with reverence. Dr.Atta ur Rehman has cultivated a Cult of His Own Brilliant Scientific Personality. He is a cheap promoter of his real or imagined achievements and does not hesitate to take credit for his subordinates achievements.  Every scientific paper published by his subordinates, has to have his name on it, even though, his intellectual scientific contribution may be less than 0-10 percent. Dr. Atta ur Rehman only cares for his own glorification. He wants to be on TV. He wants his name emblazoned in marquees. He is a narcissistic personality, who loves to be in the spotlight.  Pakistani media croons over him, never asking him tough questions, as to his own scientific contributions in recent past. He has never been held accountable for his financial expenditures. In Pakistan, auditing of scientific institutions is non-existent. Not, of those, who are his subordinates. He uses government funds for junkets to International Scientific Meeting, where he does not contribute any paper or adds to any new knowledge. He cares less, if Pakistan falls to the rank of No.47 in global scientific ranking, falling even below, tiny Croatia. His elfishness and self aggrandizement has brought the destruction of science in Pakistan.
 
Dr.Atta ur Rehman has damaged Pakistan’s Scientific & Technological Progress irreversibly. He is a control freak and does not let any young or brilliant scientist progress in Pakistan. He has veto power on all scientific matters. He is politically extremely savvy. There are several hundred scientists in China and India, to whom this man cannot hold a candle. He is well entrenched through his connections. He is related to Musharraf through family ties and consolidated his position thereafter (during Musharraf’s rule). He is “Pakistan’s Scientific Chaudhry,” for the last 30 years. 
 
Pakistan is no.47 in global scientific rankings. India is no.10. Thousands of young and brilliant scientists have left Pakistan, because this man’s absolute strangle hold on Pakistan’s Scientific and Education Policy and Growth. One of the factor that improves a nations economy is the research in science and technology. S.Korea and Pakistan received the same scientific and economic growth plan from Dr.Mahbub ul Haq, Korea followed it. It established premier scientific institution as Korea Institute of Science and Technology and Hankuk University are global leaders in scientific publications, engineering, and technological breakthroughs, but, Pakistan with its reservoirs of brains, is stagnating, because of these hacks and control freaks, who think that they are Allah’s gift to Pakistan. 
 
Across the border, India has at least 30 to 40 scientific leaders advising different political leaders and PM, Pakistan’s executives has only this man to fall back on. It is a proverbial punjabi case of “jithay de Khothi, othay a Khaloti.” Brilliant, patriotic, and decent scientists and engineers like Dr.Samar Mubarakmand are too afraid to challenge his hegemony. 
 
There are at least 15,000 scientists and engineers associated with Pakistan’s Nuclear and Ballistic Programs.  They live in anonymity. You never hear their names. You never know about their services. We know of one person who worked honestly and selflessly in this program. He could have made millions of dollars, because, he was acquiring equipment for the program from multiple countries. But, he retired with his pension and lives in a modest house bought with his provident fund. There are thousand of others in this program, who worked with jazba-i-iman. Yes, we have corruption, but as a nation of 180 million people, we have lots of honest, decent, and patriotic people, who keep Pakistan going. 
 
Action Requested:
 
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Please go and vote there and express your opinion on Pakistan’s science, technology and education. We get thousands of views from Pakistan and globally, maybe, someone will listen. It will take you one minute. Thanks.
 
China, India, Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore have achieved tremendous economic progress, because science and technology were promoted. Economic progress is directly proportional to growth of science and technology. But, in Pakistan we have a scientific establishment led by Dr.Atta ur Rehman, which keeps new talent from emerging. Since, Musharraf’s time this man is saying how many Universities, he is establishing and how great progress is being made, but that is all untrue. He is a “B.S. Artist Par Excellence.” Yes, he  was average, not an eminent global scientist, 40 years ago, but now this “scientist-cum-establishment politician,” has become a liability, an albatross,  and a grindstone around growth of Pakistan’s science and technology institutions. 
 
Our political governments whether PPP, PML, or even Musharraf’s, take Dr.Atta ur Rehman’s advice as gospel. His scientific publications stopped 30 years ago,. He now he gets his name in every paper published by young Pakistani scientists working in institutions, he controls. He is far behind, the thousands of global scientists, including those from Pakistan (who are living abroad), who have made significant strides in scientific innovation. What is the downside of Dr.Atta ur Rehman’s hegemony over Pakistan’s scientific establishment?  A major negative effect of Dr.Atta ur Rehman’s iron grip over scientific institution is that any younger scientist, who comes up with an invention or patentable idea, has to get Dr.Atta ur Rehman’s blessings to move it forward. The result is that all new ideas and inventions dies at the desk of this scientific gargoyle. Therefore,  younger generations have not produced a scientist of Dr.Salam, Dr.Samar Mubarakmand, or Dr.A.Q.Khan’s  calibre.  All innovations and inventions in science and technology in Pakistani have been lost, because they lacked the blessing of Pakistan’s Scientific Czar. 
 
Pakistan is one country, which has not produced a single global patent!
 
 
Dr.Atta ur Rehman’s Jealous Resentment of Dr.A.Q.Khan

Dr.Atta ur Rehman is also behind the whispering campaign to demonize Dr.A.Q.Khan, the Father of Pakistan’s Nuclear Processing Technology in Pakistan and the West.  Dr.Atta ur Rehman tried to use his clout with Gen.(Retd) Musharraf to oust Dr.A.Q.Khan.

Dr AQ Khan, had in a dramatic move made public a long charge-sheet against the outgoing chairman of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Dr Attaur Rehman, saying he was the blue-eyed boy of Gen Pervez Musharraf because both hailed from Delhi.

In a note sent to The News on Thursday, Dr Khan regretted that despite eight years in office and spending billions of taxpayers’ money, Dr Attaur Rehman could not even set up a single university, leave alone his tall claims of setting up six foreign universities.

Dr Khan, breaking his silence after a very long time, also made some new revelations, saying Gen Musharraf wanted him to become a minister but he proposed the name of Dr Attaur Rehman. He has also claimed that Pakistan had made the nuclear bomb in 1984.

In his attack on Dr Rehman, the first of its kind which might put the tall claims of the HEC in a new perspective, Dr AQ Khan said: “As an organic chemist with no industrial exposure, he fell into the trap laid by many of the incompetent sycophants that surrounded him. They excelled in on-screen, colourful presentations containing figures, graphs and forecasts, but these were nothing more than a house of cards. Those running the HEC had never set up or run even a high school, let alone a university.”

Ms Henny Khan, the wife of Dr AQ Khan, on behalf of her husband, also sent a long note to this correspondent to join the debate going on about the performance of Dr Attaur Rehman, who was one of the longest-serving persons during the last eight years of Musharraf but failed to deliver.

Dr Khan is the second top man who has blasted Dr Rehman after former minister Ishaq Khan Khakwani.

In his communication to The News, Dr Khan said the article on the Higher Education Commission in The News of Oct 14, 2008, together with the criticism on its performance by former federal minister Ishaq Khan Khakwani and Dr Attaur Rehman’s reaction were highly informative to the common man in general and the academic community in particular.

“The truth always hurts and Khakwani is known for calling a spade a spade. He was also very outspoken in his criticism of Gen (retd) Musharraf’s illegal and unconstitutional acts. On both counts, he has hit the nail right on the head,” Dr Khan said.

He said he had known Prof Dr Attaur Rehman for almost two decades and was aware of his good work at the HEJ Institute at the University of Karachi. He recalled that after Gen (retd) Musharraf staged the coup against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Dr Rehman became Musharraf’s blue-eyed boy, presumably because both came from Delhi.

He revealed: “When I was about to retire, Gen (retd) Musharraf offered me the post of minister of science and technology, which I refused. I had good reasons for doing so. I did not want to be part of the Gen’s cabinet, to see him in cabinet meetings and to shake hands with him as if all was well between us. At their specific request, I suggested Prof Attaur Rehman believing that, as a foreign trained, good academic, he was capable of doing the job. After my retirement, Gen (retd) Musharraf asked me to become his adviser, which I again refused. However, a number of senior Army officers requested me to accept this post for my own good as the general was known to be very vindictive. As adviser, I could keep myself busy with educational activities. I accepted the post on the condition that I would not be required to attend cabinet meetings.”

Dr Khan said after his appointment as minister, Prof Dr Attaur Rehman changed and was no longer the humble person he used to be. None of the advisers (with the status of a federal minister) i.e. Mr Sharifuddin Pirzada, Dr Ishfaq Ahmad and myself ever put a flag on their car or put “federal minister” on their car number plates. On becoming adviser and later the HEC chairman, Prof Dr Attaur Rehman constantly used the term “federal minister”, even adding it on his HEC letterhead. It was a pity he felt the need to do so, as with his educational and professional background, there was no need to do so. His academic achievements said it all.

Coming back to the achievements or lack thereof of the HEC, Dr AQ Khan said billions of rupees were spent over the last eight years with very little to show for it. “Prof Dr Attaur Rehman met me a number of times, the last time being hardly three or four weeks ago. We discussed the establishment of six technical universities with the help of six foreign countries. I was rather shocked to learn from him that all these universities were to be set up by the HEC — all the infrastructure, equipment, faculty, salaries, transport, residential facilities, etc., were to be provided by Pakistan. The foreign universities’ role would be solely to nominate the foreign faculty, advise and issue degrees. I was always under the impression that such universities were to be financed and run by the respective foreign countries. Since Prof Dr Attaur Rehman became the HEC chairman, I have always been advising him to first set up one university and only attempt a second one when the first was up and running smoothly but, as an outsider, my suggestions were not welcomed. We now see the results — hardly anything worth mentioning.”

Dr Khan said another issue that sidetracked the academic one and with serious financial repercussions was the mobile phone publicity campaign. Prof Dr Attaur Rehman, as minister for information technology, went all-out to introduce the mobile phone culture. We all saw on TV how every Tom, Dick and Harry was using a mobile phone, but nobody thought of the financial repercussions.

“In the very first year of its introduction, Pakistan spent $1 billion (one billion dollars) on the import of mobile phones, not even to talk of the remittances back to their parent companies of hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues. A manufacturing plant, costing a fraction of that amount, could have produced phone locally; thus, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars and providing jobs to many local engineers and technicians. If we were able to produce state-of-the-art centrifuges, high frequency inverters, top quality nuclear valves, ballistic-guided missiles and nuclear weapons, why were we not able to produce mobile phones?

Dr Khan said he had no doubt that Prof Dr Attaur Rehman’s intentions were good. However, he pointed out that his planning proved disastrous. “His weakness was that he was not an engineer and, therefore, lacked a basic understanding of the requirements of technical education. As an organic chemist with no industrial exposure, he fell into the trap laid by many of the incompetent sycophants that surrounded him. They excelled in on-screen, colourful presentations containing figures, graphs and forecasts, but these were nothing more than a house of cards”.

AQ Khan said those running the HEC had never set up or run even a high school, let alone a university. “If Dr Attaur Rehman had listened to my well-meant advice and set up even a single university, he would not be facing such scathing attacks today. Such a university would have seen hundreds of good engineers graduating by now.”

Dr Khan said he always gave Dr Attaur Rehman the example of the GIK Institute. Ghulam Ishaq Khan made him (AQ Khan) project director and he had the unflinching support of Ghulam Ishaq Khan himself, HU Beg, Shamsul Haq, Brig Amir Gulistan Janjua and Elahi Bux Soomro.

“Together, we put up the GIK Technical Institute in two years at a cost of approximately Rs1-1/2 billion. Within two years of its inauguration, it was listed as one of the top ten technical institutions of Asia. Incidentally, my former teacher at Delft (Holland) and Leuven (Belgium), Prof Dr MJ Brabers, was the first rector and there were 15 foreign professors when the institute started functioning.”

Dr Khan said another example of concentrating on one thing at a time was the establishment of the uranium enrichment plant at Kahuta. “We started with literally nothing in 1976 and by August 1984 we had put up one of the most advanced facilities and had even managed to produce nuclear weapons. All this was done with a budget of Rs 100 to 110 million per year.”

He pointed out that Prof Dr Attaur Rehman had visited the plant and was, therefore, in a position to judge himself whether his advice had been genuine and workable.

“Our success was due to putting together of a very strong technical team. We were lucky to have had the full support — both financially and morally — of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Gen Ziaul Haq, Ghulam Ishaq Khan and others. HU Beg was a great supporter to us and looked after our financial requirements with great acumen, ensuring strict control and regular audits,” Dr Khan said.

Dr Khan said it was a great pity that despite his sincere efforts, good intentions and access to funds, Prof Dr Attaur Rehman was not able to deliver what he set out to do. He believed that not a single new university was established or an existing one brought to a level where it could be counted as one of the 200 top-most universities recently mentioned in Time magazine, while India has two mentions on that list. “This is mainly due to his inability to select a competent team of technically experienced advisers. Academicians never make good administrators and planners,” he regretted.

 

 
And, Dr.Atta ur Rehman is responsible for it. He is Dr.Teflon, friend of all rulers, dictator and democrats, and is immune to accountability, whether, administrative or financial.  No one can shake his control over Pakistan’s Scientific Establishment. He is like a leech sucking the life blood of science, technology, and innovation in Pakistan!
 

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