Adil Najam
Today – June 11, 2011 – All Things Pakistan turns five years old!
Today, sitting in Lahore, Pakistan, I write in the realization that it is now time to move on.
This is not a ‘Good Bye’ post – it is, in fact, a ‘Thank You’ post. Nor do I want this to be a ‘looking back’ post – I would much rather that it be a ‘looking forward’ post.
For me personally, it is time to move back to Pakistan. For ATP, the blog, it is time to turn off the lights.
Five years ago we set out with the mild ambition to have a conversation with a few friends on all things Pakistan – from the profound to the trivial. What followed was a more intense, more engaged, more elaborate, and more fulfilling conversation than we could have ever imagined. Well above 10 million visits later, it is now time to move on.
But we promise that we have no intention to tune out. We know that this conversation will continue. This was never our conversation, it was yours. We intend to keep listening in. We hope you will let us do so in all the myriad forms and formats that have now become available for this exploration of our Pakistaniat – our Pakistaniness – to thrive. We have chronicled our own story and evolution in our posts (the ATP Credo, the Tangay Walla post, 1st anniversary post, 2nd anniversary post, 3rd anniversary post, who reads Pakistaniat post, 4th anniversary post) and now is not the time to repeat those arguments or even to look back.
I can say with some pride and great joy that we have had some small part in the construction of an important conversation. It has not always been an easy conversation. Our national predicaments have made it an often sad and occasionally angry conversation. But it remains a vibrant – and vital – conversation. We hope that in these five years ATP has contributed some to this conversation, and has contributed to it positively.
So, today, I write in gratitude. Thank you for your companionship. Thank you for your patience. Thank your for dropping by. Thank you for making this your own. Today, we are happy in the knowledge that the conversations we had wanted to seed are thriving. Technology has provided an array of new formats – from facebook to twitter and beyond. There is a mushrooming of blogs and formats, and we hope that in some small way we have contributed to them. We know we have thrived and found sustenance (and ideas) in this new and bold world of Pakistan’s Blogistan. We thank our blogging colleagues, our many many writers, and our even more many readers for the excitement they have added to our lives.
I realize that the timing of this will lead many of conclude that it has something to do with my own move. While the two are not unrelated, they are actually less related than you might think. It was, in fact, back in November 2010, that Owais Mughal and I had decided that we would do this on this date and in this manner. Owais had already moved to Singapore and my own professional commitments had begun to mount. We did not wish to end with a whimper nor just fade out abruptly. Five years seemed like a good innings to both of us. Let me take this moment to thank Owais for his support and companionship. More than anyone else he has made ATP possible and allowed it to last this long. Without him, it would have faded long ago. And without him it would have been not just a lonelier but also a much less interesting journey. Thank you, Owais, my friend. Thank you for everything! (As an aside, I should add that Owais and I had never met until fairly recently and for years ran this together without even having met – such is the magic in Blogistan).
Do I have regrets – yes, but too few too mention. I wish we had written fewer obituaries. I wish we had not had to talk about national angst and tragedies as much as we had to. I wish we more time to write all the posts that remain unwritten in our personal lists – more pleasant things than those that were floating in the daily headlines. Yes, I do also wish that some of our readers had been a little more kind to us and to each other in their comments – but, I also realize that we live in unkind times and the viciousness of our environs can sometimes seep into our own language and thoughts. More than anything else, I wish the unkindness of our times will become less, allowing us to be a little more considerate to each other than we sometimes seem to be.
Good byes, they say, should never be long. But this is not a good bye. So, until we meet again, dear friends, take care; khiyal rakhna.
I was deeply shocked to read that ATP will close down how ever I was extremely glad to hear that Prof. Adil Najam is moving back to Lahore and will be serving LUMS. Moving back to Pakistan is certainly not easy but I am sure he will contribute more to our beloved country while staying in the country then in USA. Best of Luck to him and Owais Mughal and thank you very much for such a wonderful blog. Thank you.
“In fact, Adil could have served Pakistan much, much better by using his inspiration and exemplary academic profile by being and lobbying for Pakistan in the U.S. – a country so intrinsically attached with the fate of our nation.”
@DMI,
I disagree with your viewpoint. Lobbying for Pakistan at an official or unofficial is certainly an important job, but a man of integrity can only defend the shenanigans of generals and corrupt politicians for so long.
LUMS is one of the very few bright spots in Pakistan today, but that’s not to say that the academic environment, freedom, etc will be similar as in the U.S. — it certainly is not going to be, as you rightly alluded. It is definitely going to be a very, very challenging assignment, even for someone with Adil’s qualifications and experience.
Adil’s own career aside, LUMS stands to gain a great deal, and this is a very strategic move on their part. Judging by the steps they have taken in the past decade or so, they want to be seen not just as a business school, but as a major, modern university. And with the recruitment of someone who is both an environmental scientist and also well-known in international academia, they are probably looking to expand their horizons and raise their profile in the world at large.
Dear Dr. Najam, I also congratulate you on creating and maintaining this fine website, really an institution all Pakistanis can be proud of, even those of us who often disagreed with you.
My first reaction, like that of many others, was to ask to continue the site because it still serves such a great function. But after reading all the comments here (which, actually, are quite amazing) I realize that what you have done is the right thing and I think you should stick to it (although I assume the site will continue as an archive ). Here is why. You have obviously decided to leave when you and this website is at the height of its popularity. And I also think that is the way to do it. I cannot remember any Pakistani ever doing that except Imran Khan when he left cricket. I just hope that you do not make the mess he made in politics afterwards. but the idea of a Pakistani not clinging to success but making way for others and saying good bye at his peak is a good one. And in that way too you are a trailblazer. So, best of luck, and as you say, khyal rakhna.
Adil,
Thank you for creating and maintaing this website , I will miss this interaction as besides reading the daily Dawn this was the only blog i would go to as there was sincerity in what was being written by you and your colleagues, all good things dont have to come to an end .
The trust and respect your team has earned has to be translated in ground reality as you will find us supportive of what you want to do in Pakistan .
Song from Strings to share with all Pakistanis and friends of Pakistan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsyyR2Yo83M
Regarding Adil’s move to Lahore, I’m going to be the party pooper here. Sorry, someone has to be.
Also, I apologize to Adil beforehand for coming out a bit harsh presumptuously, but it doesn’t reflect on him at all. This comment is for naive fans who are cheering you back into their mould. I hope you understand what I’m trying to get at: I don’t know the circumstances or reasons for your move.
With all the possible due respect…
I believe that a person of Adil’s repute, integrity and academic achievement should have stayed in the U.S.
“Serving Pakistan” in this global village of information age doesn’t have to mean physically burning the midnight oil in a Lahore suburb. Besides, he’s most likely to be playing a ‘been’ to indifferent buffaloes. LUMS isn’t exactly in dire need of any revival or resurrection or even rescuing.
There’s a reason why Brain Drain is known by this term. It’s a global phenomena. If you wish to be the finest programmer, you gotta be in Silicon Valley. If you wish to be the best chef, you gotta be in Paris. If you gotta be the best desinger, you have to be in Milan… you get the idea.
In fact, Adil could have served Pakistan much, much better by using his inspiration and exemplary academic profile by being and lobbying for Pakistan in the U.S. – a country so intrinsically attached with the fate of our nation.
I do not see any honour or glory in this move. Though I understand the cheers and platitudes from those who see someone coming back to join their miseries. Nothing wrong with that. As humans, we like all to suffer as we do. But this is where they are naive to assume this move simply means “coming back to Pakistan to serve the nation”, etc.
With this move, I see an easier, comfortable cop-out to a life surrounded by perks and peons, maids and help.