EFSAS Interview with Professor Pervez Hoodbhoy (Pakistani Nuclear Physicist) on the current state of affairs in Pakistan
18-06-2023, Amsterdam
In an exclusive interview held by EFSAS, part of the series 'Plain Talk; South Asia', Mr. Junaid Qureshi, Director EFSAS, had the privilege of interviewing Professor Pervez Hoodbhoy, Pakistani nuclear physicist and activist who served as Professor of physics and mathematics at the Forman Christian College-University in Lahore, and previously taught physics at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) in Lahore and the Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) in Islamabad. Professor Hoodbhoy is also a prominent activist, in particular concerned with promotion of freedom of speech, secularism, scientific temper and education in Pakistan. He was a visiting professor at MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Maryland. He is a recipient of the Baker Award for Electronics and the Abdus Salam Prize for Mathematics and UNESCO’s Kalinga Prize for the popularization of science. In 2011, he was included in the list of 100 most influential global thinkers by Foreign Policy magazine and was also a member of the UN Secretary General's Advisory Board on Disarmament. He is the author of ‘Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality’ and writes for various publications including The Dawn, The New York Times and The Express Tribune.
In this interview, Professor Pervez Hoodbhoy touched upon the education system in Pakistan, religious fanaticism, the role of the Pakistani Army in the country, the deteriorating economy, China, Indo-Pak relations and the Jammu & Kashmir issue.
Professor Pervez Hoodbhoy in conversation with Director EFSAS, Junaid Qureshi.
