Page 20 - Pakistan Link - February 1, 2019

P20 – PAKISTAN LINK – FEBRUARY 1, 2019 COMMENTARY
Science and the Need for North-South Conciliation

n By Akhtar Mahmud Faruqui
Editor Even the post-World War II `Big Science’
Pakistan Link was not free from failings. Many mistakes were
committed but camouflaged by the explosive
ith deep political insight, Willy rate of development. As late as the turn of the
Brandt described North-South re- century, science policy in Europe was still in its
Wlations as “the greatest challenge to infancy and seeking its terminology and meth-
mankind for the remainder of this century” ods. Despite the plethora of research facilities
and “the two decades ahead and bulging R&D programs, there was consid-
of us ... fateful for human- erable anxiety that should an `enlarged Europe’
ity”. His enlightening report (the Continent and the UK) delay in pooling as
North-South: A Program many of its scientific findings and techniques
for Survival was critically as it can, “we shall all be far behind, and in ten
timed: “The 1980s could years have receded, to the status of underdevel-
witness even greater catas- oped countries.”
trophes than the 1930s”, a Though hardly symptomatic of the time,
somber foreboding stemming from the grave scientists in the USA often fret today that many
inequities dividing the rich North and the bright people who would otherwise enter the
poor South. science arena, are passing it by without any real
Several decades after the publication of A exposure to its attractions. There is also consid-
Program for Survival, the South continues to erable resentment that economists who often
be faced with problems of sorts. In the realm of offer such temporary and shaky solutions are
science and technology, the North-South chasm ture; post-harvest food preservation; survey of ence of values, ‘rather than put all its stakes in among the administration’s most favored and
presents many disquieting features: the North natural resources; soft technologies for energy technical development, which is not total devel- visible advisers while scientists who are special-
sitting on the gleaming wings of science rejoices production; electronics and computer technol- opment and does not settle the major problems ly qualified to develop adequate knowledge and
on its grandiose successes while the South pro- ogy; health and sanitation; rural industrial de- of politics, economics and war, but only raises understanding of the issues themselves, struggle
vides a multiplying myriad of eyesores as its velopment; laser development and application, such issues to a new pinnacle of desperation.’ to be heard!
fledgling science remains precariously perched. e.g. in microsurgery, precision manufacturing, The Marshall Plan and its successes have In the prodigious struggle of the North,
Should developing countries be left to etc.; and optical communication. set a shining precedent of international assis- one which is still continuing, there are lessons
lurch and languish? Should three-quarters of The North is also morally obliged to erase tance, an outstanding example to emulate. A to- for Southern scientists. Failures are a necessary
humanity inhabiting our planet be condemned some of the present scientific and technological tal of $32 billion - 2.7% of the then GNP of the prelude to success. A whole-hog commitment,
to a perpetual state of sub-human living? Or, imbalances which are largely its own doing. It USA - transformed war-ravaged Europe, setting an unrelenting effort, should be their prime un-
should the South be helped to its feet with the is hard to deny that “for most of the sovereign off a chain reaction of prosperity for the donor dertaking. The emergence of Southern multina-
North abandoning its detached stance? Should states of the world, the length of time and the and the recipients. The same applies to North- tionals and their corporate interaction with the
not the South’s access to science and technology degree of intensity to which they have been sub- South collaborative schemes: wholesome re- old and well-entrenched trans-nationals - trad-
- its passport to modernity - be precipitated for jected to European influence has much to do sults would surely ensue but over a longer time ing empires and storehouses of valuable scien-
its eventual salvation, and for the unity of the with their present political, economic, material span, given the South’s multifarious problems. tific know-how - also leads one to shed some
world? and technological levels and systems of organi- The International Herald Tribune has com- pessimism about the future of South science.
Indisputably, the science of the North zation.” So commented J.P. Cole in his famous mented in a timely way: “. . . there is much that Rescuing South science from its present
can be used as the great equalizer to give each book Geography of World Affairs published the North could do... It could move prudently abyss is the responsibility of the three main ac-
country in the world the opportunity to feed its by Penguin Books Ltd. Science in the battered toward faster growth and speedily toward freer tors on the world scene - the North, South, and
people, to house them, to allow them to enjoy colonized world was left to languish and decay. trade for the products that the poor produce. the UN. Each one has a role to play. In a world of
life in all its wondrous aspects, and to give them Lord Macaulay, for instance, strove to give India Above all, it could stop sermonizing and show multi-polarity and increasing complexity, such
the feeling of pride in intellectual achievement. the best that Britain could offer for an educa- greater tolerance for the economic institutions a futuristic perspective appears fanciful, though
“In the United States, we used to talk of the gun tional system, but that did not include science favored by struggling governments in the South rationally opportune, if one seriously contem-
as the great equalizer, the method that Ameri- and technology. . . . North-South relations would improve if the plates the prospects for a livable world. Brandt,
can cowboys employed to take care of bullies. Historic compulsions too suggest the rich showed more understanding of the pres- for one, was bold enough to suggest that we ex-
Today, I believe the greatest equalizer is sci- same course. In the long run the North’s indif- sures faced by the poorer countries at home”. plore the realm of the possible: “Many people
ence”, perceptively commented Kurt Salzinger, ference to science development in the South Countries today are so interdependent that “it is in government, and elsewhere, may consider
a former President of the New York Academy will be counterproductive for the North itself. impossible for the two hemispheres to follow di- this to be the worst possible moment for radi-
of Sciences. Throughout human history, science has never vergent trends for long”, the Tribune concludes. cal changes. How can industrial nations pre-
He knew, and so did many others, that res- flourished under restrictions, be they of reli- As the South scientists continue their of- occupied with grave problems of their own be
cuing the South would not be entirely without gion (Mediaeval Europe), politics (Nazi Ger- ten-frustrating and seldom-rewarding scientific expected to make far reaching and bold moves
gains for the North: collaboration in research in many) or frontiers (modern USA). It has been plod, they should not lose heart but instead seek to intensify cooperation with the developing
regions which are rich in the natural resources rightly said that “the technical opportunities, consolation in the knowledge that the irritat- world? But we believe that it is precisely in this
of plants, animals and minerals, and in coun- though certainly helping to liberate mankind ing problems confronting them today are not time of crisis that basic world issues must be
tries which are uniquely placed in relation to in many ways, exacerbated some of the world’s peculiar to their own setting but were once an faced and bold issues taken”. Uplifting the state
incident solar energy and the geographic and ancient troubles, and scientific achievements annoying feature of North science at its forma- of South science today, several decades after the
magnetic equators, would be mutually benefi- have scarcely been matched by political ones. tive phase. The flowering of science was unfail- publication of A Program of Survival, is certain-
cial. Not all areas of science, not all accomplish- In the late 1970s, it seemed possible that West- ingly obstructed and stifled when the North ly a basic world issue, a pressing one. Divested
ments, not all discoveries to be made in the fu- ern civilization might collapse before the end of was entrapped in poverty. The changeover from of science, technology-transfer alone would be
ture will be made in big or expensive science. the century, either from the onslaught of irra- a feudal to a science-oriented society was not a formalistic exercise in abstraction and would
Among the broad areas for initial North- tionality without or the failure of nerve within.” spontaneous, the blueprints precipitating the hardly accomplish anything of lasting value.
South collaboration, the following appear most (Hugh Thomas, A History of the World, New Industrial Revolution and the science culture It would be like the gift of a decorative house-
attractive: biotechnology, particularly in rela- York, Harper and Row Publishers Inc.) It is in were not self-generating, pre-existent, or inter- plant without its roots - it would look beautiful
tion to medicine; genetic improvement in agri- the interest of the North to show greater respect woven. The going was rough, over a tortuous for a day or two, but would surely wither away.
culture; mass propagation techniques in agricul- for human development which needs the sci- winding road. - editor@pakistanlink.com
n By Arifa Noor The Angry Pakistani in policymaking has made entire swathes of the
Karachi populace angry, hostile and critical of the state.
t takes an outsider to point out the anger there have been so many moments when the possible failed state. I was told that the writer They are angry at being left out: it’s an anger
within us. Last week, a former US am- professor’s question has come back to mind. had gotten a call from an amused friend in that is accompanied by a sense of helplessness
Ibassador to Pakistan, Cameron Munter, Countless memories that came spilling out Afghanistan who said that despite all that had at the direction that the country and society
spoke at an event, arguing that our anger echoed what former ambassador Munter said. happened in and to Afghanistan, no Afghan have taken. And in recent times, too, there is a
prevents us from telling the Some as clear as the question asked by the In- would ever call his country a ‘failed state’. sense of outrage because course correction (if
good story about Pakistan to dian professor; some a little less sharp. But each We, of course, have used this term so of- there is any in their opinion) has not included
the world. one testifies to our despair, anger or lack of con- ten for the country that many of us believe it is their input. Hence, many refuse to believe that
It reminded me of an inter- fidence in what is known as Pakistan. a failed state — despite the term’s problematic there has been any course correction, or criti-
action that took place nearly 20 We have been living in an age of anger, de- origins as one used by Washington to describe cize it for moving too slowly.
years ago. Back in 2000, a soft- cades before Pankaj Mishra wrote about it. countries it ‘disapproved’ of rather than an em- This is why perhaps the anger is most pal-
spoken Indian professor from Fast forward from 2000 to the last months pirically established concept. pable when it comes to foreign policy, especial-
Delhi had asked why the Pakistani people were of 2007 or the beginning of 2008: a faded Then there are jumbled up memories of ly relations with India, and the radicalism that
always so pessimistic about their country — memory, I am unsure of the exact month, but various track II dialogues. Each such seminar has engulfed state and society.
present and future — despite the fact that till it was during the days of that heady yet diffi- or conference is coupled with at least one dis- Being denied a voice, there is little left
the 1990s, Pakistan had always enjoyed better cult transition from dictatorship to democracy. cussion (on the sidelines) of how the Indians to do but express rage at the state, what it has
social and economic indicators (including a Musharraf was fighting for his survival. Benazir (and more recently the Afghans) present a come to stand for and to also conclude that
higher growth rate) than India. It was a ques- Bhutto and the Sharifs were clawing their way united stand unlike Pakistanis. There is always there can be little hope for the future. (Pakistan
tion I had no answer to. The hostile questions back to relevance (followed by the devastating a sense of frustration at how we end up helping has not just been at the crossroads ever since I
about Kargil and military rule were easier to assassination of the former). A lawyers’ move- ‘their’ cause rather than supporting our inter- can remember, it has also forever been in dan-
answer during that trip to India than this gentle ment had caught Pakistan’s imagination. And est. ger of being torn apart).
insight and a sense of bewilderment about our there were terrorist attacks galore. Why do we do this, as the professor asked? The rage has gotten worse post-2008, for
state of being. In the midst of these trying yet hopeful Perhaps it stems from our long bouts of the hope that accompanied the transition then
But since that morning in New Delhi, times, an op-ed had discussed Pakistan as a dictatorships. Denied their due and rightful say PAKISTANI, P28
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