by iFaqeer
Charaagh Hasan Hasrat once said:
allah allah fusooN naghma-e-ishq
saara aalam hai gosh bar aawaz
The news going around in Pakistani circles is the fact that one of our own is the one of the Convening Lead Authors for the IPCC team that shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore. And of course, the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change) team is chaired by another South Asian; Rajendra Pachauri.
Pakistani scientist in Nobel team -DAWN - National; October 14, 2007: WASHINGTON, Oct 13: Pakistani professor Adil Najam, now teaching at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, US, is amongst the team of scientists and experts in the Intergovernmental …
Over the years, I have come to know Dr. Najam rather well, and have learned from and been inspired by him. I’ve written about him quite a few times at my blog. For Example: here and especially here.
From a comment Dr. Najam posted on Pakistaniat.com:
Thank you to all for their kind wishes and congrats. I should add, however, that the Nobel was awarded to the work of the IPCC (a panel of eminent global climate change experts), so I am just one of the many experts on that Panel. I have served on the IPCC for some 8 years, the last many as a Convening Lead Author. So, yes, it does feel terrific to have one’s work and research celebrated by the Nobel Committee, but it really is an honor shared by many (including by Dr. Tariq Banuri who played a leading role in the IPCC’s evolution in the past).
Some links: Dawn, Boston Globe, Encyclopedia of the Earth, The Fletcher School.
In the idiom of South Asian sport, I want to say:
“Well played, Adil bhai; buhat aala, Adil bhai!”
Note: This post is a tribute from iFaqeer, Owais Mughal and many other friends. It is being produced here inspite of Adil’s objection. We would’ve kept quiet but our situation is now what Dagh Dehlvi had once said:
Dagh ki shaamat jo aai iztaraab-e-shauq meiN
hal-e-dil kam-bakht ne sab un ke muNh par rakh dia
So while we’ve taken this action of writing our ‘haal-e-dil’, we hope our readers will give Adil due credit for his research work in their comments below.
Dear Adil Bhai. Fisrt congratulations on this amazing achievements. I have known of you since you used to do programs on PTV. AT that time my mother used to always say “tum iss ki tarha kay kuo nahi hotay?” (Why aren’t you more like him?). But even then we were proud of you because you were always so respectful and so confident and so akalmand. Since then I have been hearing of your many acheivements from different people and always amazed at just how much you have done in so many different areas. So, congratulations and thank you for making us feel good and feel proud. We look for even more great achievements from you.
Nine scientific inacuracies in oscar winning Inconvenient truth,
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-2341615 1-details/Judge+attacks+nine+errors+in+Al+Gore%27s +%27alarmist%27+climate+change+film/article.do
respect for all IPPC researchers/scientists.
here what ppl say about Algore’s prize winning,
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/12/gore.nobel. reader.feedback/index.html
about inconvenient truth,
……film was riddled with nine scientific errors as he considered whether it should be shown to British school children.
LINK:
http://www.kansascity.com/news/world/story/313405. html
O ma GOD!!!!
Adil bhai congrats on this nomination
Bohut aala , boht aala
Paki Power ZINDA BAAD
Friends, thank you so much for all the kind comments and sentiments. I am deeply moved and truly touched.
Owais had suggested writing such a post on Friday but I had asked him not to, partly because of the ‘apnay moun mian mithoo’ effect but also because the work of the IPCC was truly the work of a team of experts from all over the world over the long period of time. The award is not to any individual, it is to the institution and the work of the IPCC. So, no, this does not really make me personally a Nobel winner; it merely means that the research and work I was part of has been considered worthy of the award. I have been privileged to be part of this team and to hold the position of a Convening Lead Author the last many years, but the work that is being celebrated is not of any individual, it is of the entire group. It feels wonderful to have the work we have done so laboriously over so many years recognized but it is also humbling to know how much we have built on the shoulders of others. In my own case, I was following the footsteps of another Pakistani, Dr. Tariq Banuri, who has had very profound impact on the direction of the IPCC, epically in terms of sustainable development issues.
Again, my thanks to all of you for the kind words. As Bilal has rightly said the Nobel Prize may have been announced but the work continues to be done and much remains to be achieved before we get to the real prize… That of actually reversing climatic change trends!
Congratualtions to Adil Najam, a University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Lahore Alumna. UET would be proud of it.
Congratulations to Adil and IPCC team for receiving noble prize along with Al Gore. I am very happy to hear that one of us was part of noble cause on saving environment.
Congratulations to Adil Najam on this recognition of his valuable work.
I am sure Adil is feeling the burden this award has put on him. Pakistanis now expect bigger and better things from Adil–I am sure he will not disappoint them.
C.