The Pakistani Who Thinks Ahead

I have lived in the US for the last one decade, and have come across several Pakistanis with diversified interests and lofty ambitions, which sometime come true and most of the times become run-of-the mill usual third-world country immigrants in this land of opportunity. And very few of these Pakistanis are ambitious with a plan. One of these people I met recently, was in the corridors of none other than the Library of Congress building in Washington, D.C. I had learned about him through my friend who is an alumna of Columbia University in New York. At the 250th Anniversary celebrations of Columbia University, they nominated only a few people as their alumni to be ahead of their times, and guess what? There are two Pakistanis out of a very short list of people including former Presidents, Nobel Laureates and Academy award winners. And I was lucky enough to meet one of these two accomplished Pakistanis just by accident.

Consulting the US Congress on issues of terrorism, non-proliferation and international security, Kashif Hasnie is an alumnus of Columbia University nominated as a “Columbian Ahead of its Time”. Young, bright, inquisitive, extremely articulate, but humble is how one can define this young chap from Karachi who has already made some significant strides into the world of economics, politics, and sociology. After a short talk at the library where according to his colleague he was busy working overnight, he definitely looked tired but was kind enough to give me his mobile number, which I dialed the next day to experience an extremely humble and intellectual discussion on several issues faced by our society.

So, who is Kashif Hasnie? Born in Karachi, his childhood was divided between Pakistan and UAE. His educational qualifications and interests are so vast that he was reluctant to pick any one discipline as his forte. But he is into social sciences, that is for sure. With degrees from some top universities in the US, he has also frequently lectured at places like Harvard, University of Chicago, and University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

A man of several interests and expertise, Kashif thinks that social sciences, be it economics, sociology, political science or anthropology cannot be studied in seclusion. All the disciplines are inter-related and a cross-disciplinary focus is required. According to him, social sciences or as a matter of fact any science is there to benefit the society, and for a prosperous society, focus on only one or two disciplines will not improve the state of affairs. It has to have a complete package. Time has gone when people used to specialize and reap benefits individually as well as collectively. Countries like Pakistan need Generalists with a holistic approach. Number crunching and data analyses, or coming up with complex econometric models is good for societies where a uniform development agenda has been met, but not in countries like ours. If economists like Steven Levitt at University of Chicago are providing solutions to micro issues to which the American society is sensitive, then I presume this society right now deserves attention to such issues. But Pakistan or other developing countries are still behind and should learn from the mistakes of the developed world by applying complete solutions for better societies rather than better economies, governance or any single facet of the society.

Kashif Hasnie strongly believes that the ills of societies like Pakistan are not hidden in Economics, but in Law. With Martha Nussbaum he has recently worked on issues at the cross-roads of law, economics and politics. With mentors like Jeffrey Sachs, Jagdish Bhagwati, John Mearsheimer and Hasan Askari Rizvi, he is an avid reader of Amartya Sen. He explains his relationship with the Nobel laureate as remote. But he quotes Amartya Sen more than any other economist. “A lot of exciting people are working in the field of Development Economics, as it has been redefined in the last decade or so, but Sen is the primary motivator for such change. His writings are philosophical but touch the humane side of economics which has been neglected for years. I also appreciate Steven Levitt’s work as in my opinion he is defining yet another era in Economics to which people like myself are witness.”, says Kashif.

He is a devout Muslim and tries to practice Islam to the fullest. He has an increasing interest in Usul-ul-Fiqh with a philosophical bent stamped by Islamic modernists such as Abdolkarim Soroush and Tariq Ramadan. Kashif at times buy and at others reject their theses on several issues encountered by problems faced by Muslims in the western world.

So, now who is Kashif Hasnie? I think he is a visionary in the making with lots of ideas with the required academic and professional rigor. We need such people to put Pakistan on track, and if President Musharraf or any of his aides reads this article, then please make sure that you talk to this man, before the brain is completely drained. His ideas and hard work should be put to action in Islamabad, rather than Washington, D.C.