Refusing The Sitara-I-Imtiaz

Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy, professor of physics at Quaid-e-Azam University, was awarded the Sitara-I-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan. His refusal to accept the award prompted The Friday Times to interview him. Excerpts

from the 5-12 April 2001 issue of TFT are reproduced below.
Q.1 Why did you refuse to accept the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, as was announced last year on August 14, and which was to be awarded to you on 23 March this year by the President of Pakistan?
A.1 Although I am reasonably satisfied with my scientific work, I do not think it is earth-shaking or that it deserves any kind of award. Of course, if a reputable professional organization of scientists were to disagree with my assessment and insist upon giving me some prize, I would happily accept and feel quite proud. On the other hand, receiving an award – even if it is a high national award – would give me absolutely no sense of achievement or satisfaction because it carries no credibility or prestige in professional circles. Such things do not indicate that you have done good work in your field. On the contrary, whether in a scientific field or any other, our national awards have come to be associated with political maneuverings and manipulations. Therefore I decided to refuse the award.
Q.2 This is a serious charge – you say that Pakistani national awards carry little credibility. How can you substantiate this?
A.2 For example, look at our generals – they get a shovel-full of impressive medals each year that they proudly wear on their chests. But tell me how many wars have they won? The same can be said about many, if not most, recipients of high civilian awards. What makes the whole thing a joke is that there are even regional and institutional quotas for national awards.
The process of award-giving is so bankrupt that the state, which selects the individuals, cannot even declare for what achievement they were given. Note that an award does not carry a specific citation. Indeed, when I learned from a news report in Dawn sometime last August that I was to be given a Hilal-i-Imtiaz (actually this was a mis-report, it was a Sitara-i-Imtiaz), I didn’t have a clue of which particular scientific analysis or discovery of mine I was being rewarded for. I still don’t know. So, while it was nice of someone in the government to have suggested my name, I do not think that this constitutes a valid way of deciding upon awards.
Q.3 You have received various international awards for your scientific work. Under what conditions would you accept a Pakistani national award like the one that was offered to you?
A.3 I would insist on three conditions. First, a citation that clearly says for what specific technical or scientific achievement you were selected. Second, a credible selection process for which there exist clear rules. Third, some evidence that these rules have been followed reasonably well.
Q.4 Are you saying that those who have received national awards actually do not deserve them?
A.4 Some do and many don’t. A couple of people who I respect professionally have recently accepted awards. However, over the last few decades many or most of those who have received awards have been phenomenally incompetent. I know of several cases where dismissal from the job would have been more appropriate than giving a meritorious award.
Q.5 Who makes the award decisions?
A.5 This is the crux of the problem. I presume that award decisions are made by people in the ministries, the vice-chancellors of universities, and so forth. It is essentially their whims and preferences that decide. However, I do not reliably know. Certainly, award decisions are not made by professional societies, which alone, at least in principle, can judge scientific merit within a given field.
Q.6 So how do you think award decisions should be made?
A.6 If you want to honour a person for his or her work in, say, the discipline of cosmology or molecular genetics, the only credible and supportable basis for this would be to consult the community of cosmologists and molecular geneticists. But, if within the country there is no such community of cosmologists or molecular geneticists then valid decisions are simply impossible. A bureaucrat, or even a scientist not belonging to that discipline, cannot judge that individual’s merit. I feel that unless one is willing to ask the opinion of scientists who specialize in that particular field, but who live in other countries, the whole thing is meaningless. Science is universal – there is no such thing as a national science. Let us therefore ask specialists, independent of where they are, for an opinion about the work of different contenders for an award. Fake nationalism, in the garb of a belief that we are capable of making technically sound judgments in scientific matters, can serve only to harm science in Pakistan and the collective good of our peoples.
Q.7 Was your decision to refuse a political one, because we have a military government?
A.7 No. That is a side issue. I do not support the idea of Pakistan being ruled by the military, but if I would have refused the award even with a civilian one. We have to change the process by which individual merit is evaluated.
Q.8 Was an attempt made to pressure you into accepting the award?
A.8 Some relatives and friends were disappointed, and they did try different forms of persuasion. The government made no response after I officially declined, nor exert any kind of pressure.