"Positive Role Models Crucial To Motivate Youth," Dr Hafeez Pasha

"The decay of values in our society is a reflection of the state of the educational system," says renowned economist Hafeez Pasha. Recently conferred with the Engro Excellence Award for lifetime achievement in the field of economics, Pasha sat down with BR Research for an exclusive interview. Here are selected excerpts from that conversation:
"Educational institutions must supplement the efforts of parents in highlighting the importance of ethics and values in life to children," he says adding that there is a need for a reversion to basic values. Hafeez Pasha has taught several of the leading economic experts of the country and is regarded as a positive role model who has led through his own actions. He stresses that in order to motivate the youth of the nation, role models have a big part to play in society.
"I am talking about big role models who are well known and appear on public television. My father had been very inspired by Quaid-e-Azam to the extent that he left everything he had behind and moved to Pakistan on his call. Unfortunately, we do not have big leaders of similar stature for the youth to look up to, any more," laments the eminent scholar.
Hafeez Pasha believes that the present lack of transparency and accountability prevalent in many different areas is the result of mismanagement during the initial few years after the independence of Pakistan. "The seeds of corruption were sown during the distribution of property at that time. Fraud was rampant and that really started the destruction of our value systems; then came the saga of industrial licensing. The license Raj was the second biggest contributor to corruption", says Pasha.
Although the spread of corruption and nepotism has taken place over many years, Pasha who has keenly observed developments in the country believes "now these practices have reached their peak". He urges that "there has to be some degree of accountability built into our systems". "The problems we face today are multidimensional; economic, political and security related. But the major problem is the lack of astute and forthright leaders," he sums up.
ON RECEIVING THE ENGRO EXCELLENCE AWARD "A society that values and acknowledges people for achievements in their fields, will always have a host of positive role models for others to look to for inspiration and motivation," says Hafeez Pasha.
Hafeez Pasha's response on receiving the Engro Excellence Award for his life-time achievements in economics is humble: "I have been honoured by this initiative. When I found out that the other recipients are Abdul Sattar Edhi and Dr Atta-ur-Rahman, I was a little startled to be placed among such notable people."
In fact humility seems to be well engrained in the personality of this academic giant. Recalling the first time he visited his father after becoming a federal minister he repeats the advice that he received from his father: "The tree which bears the most fruit bows the most too so stay in your humility; don't let power get to your head". The cash proceeds accompanying this award have been allocated for a gold medal in the university and this has been commemorated to Aarifa Karim.
A TALE OF STRONG VALUES, HARDWORK Hafeez Pasha was born in a well-educated family and financially well off family. His father was a civil servant but Hafeez knew from the outset that his career path would be divergent from his father's.
"I wanted to teach and in the beginning it was quite a struggle for me as my family was not in favour of it. I struck it out but for the first 15-20 years of my career I was quite poor," he recalls. Despite facing financial hardships, Pasha persevered and strictly adhered to his principles for success: humility, astuteness and humanity.
"Never use a position of power or influence to make illicit gains, never let your achievements make you haughty and never snatch away another person's livelihood," he sums up the rules he has lived by. But he laments that times are changing and many of the social values and ethical standards that were previously maintained and observed are now deteriorating quickly. "Now these traits are seen as signs of weakness. Sometimes I feel like a misfit because most other people do not appear to ascribe to such principles," he says.
His own mother was also a post graduate of Karachi University and drove her children to aspire for excellence from the beginning. He recalls that once his mother had taken him to India to meet his grandmother for three months. Hafeez had already been behind in his school work and due to this trip, his final result was affected: he secured only second position in class. Pasha recounts that his mother had been quite cross over him not securing his usual first position.
He asserts that this was one of the crucial experiences of his life that motivated him to complete a post doctorate degree (PhD) from Stanford, in the shortest time span in the history of that world renowned educational institution. Previously he had obtained his undergraduate degree from Cambridge and went on to teach at Stanford after obtaining his PhD.
BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT: TEACHING Besides serving in various governmental roles, Hafeez Pasha has also worked alongside the likes of Bill Clinton for the United Nations. In the aftermath of the tsunami that rattled Indonesia, Pasha and Clinton worked closely in Indonesia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives and managed to mobilise $11 billion for relief efforts; the largest amount of money ever raised for any natural disaster.
But, despite all these and many other achievements, Hafeez Pasha himself believes that his biggest contribution is in the field of education. This is a very accurate self assessment which can be ratified simply by looking at the list of his students who have gone on to serve the country in different capacities.
The current finance minister Hafeez Sheikh, secretary economic affairs division Waqar Masood and renowned economist Kaiser Bengali are just some of the students whom Pasha has taught. "The quality of students that a teacher produces is his most significant contribution to society so I am glad that this award also underemphasised my political positions and achievements in favour of my performance as an academician."
COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE Despite having contributed so much to the nation, Hafeez Pasha shows no signs of tiring. Feeling the severe dearth of academics and scholars, particularly in the field of economics in the country, he has decided to champion higher education in the country. "In the next three to five years I want to produce eight to ten PhDs and I also want to start a PhD programme."
He is also planning to share more of the knowledge that he has accumulated over the years by publishing a number of books. "The first book is titled 'Towards Human Security' and will be dedicated to Mehboob-ul-Haq." The book deals with the notion that there is military security but human security including freedom from fear is still lacking. This book is being worked on at present with the help of Begum Khadija Haq, wife of the late doctor.
The second book is on public finances and draws extensively on the research that I have been involved in over the past few years. The third book is a compilation of my advice to the finance minister regarding the economy of Pakistan. Summing up the interaction with us in the same humble and suave manner that is so characteristic of him, Hafeez Pasha says, "that is all I have planned for the next two to three years of my life".
COURTESY: Economics and Finance Department, Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, prepared this analytical report for Business Recorder.
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