Husain Haqqani

     I sometimes surprise myself at how small a percentage of interesting opportunities I pursue at Andover. While I am often busy, to this point I have surprisingly rarely taken the initiative to attend lectures and events featuring distinguished outside speakers. Tonight, by chance, I attended the commons dinner with Husain Haqqani, the Pakistani ambassador to the United States. While I hadn't originally intended to go, I somewhat accidentally RSVPed yes when one of my friends posted the event on his Facebook status. After attending, I could not be more grateful that I mistakenly signed up. Ambassador Haqqani spoke engagingly and articulately, answering our questions with ingenuousness and clarity rarely see in politicians. Through his thick Pakistani accent, I perceived a man simply oozing with knowledge and intelligence, eager to contribute towards social and political progress in Pakistan and in the world. The Ambassador provided a fresh perspective on Pakistan and the rest of Asia and the Middle East with rhetoric untarnished by any of the five filters of media with which we have grown so accustomed. The degree to which I enjoyed my dinner with Mr. Haqqani, a dinner I shared with about thirty other PA students, compels me to wonder why I do not take advantage of more opportunities like this one.
      During dinner, I had the opportunity to ask Mr. Haqqani how the political and social environments in Pakistan changed after the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2008. I distinctly remember the American media's portrayal of the event as a woeful tragedy that sent "shockwaves" all throughout the Asia and the world. I remember the media talking about Bhutto's bravery and goodness as if she were infallible, almost goddess-like, and how the assassination was a major setback in the "War on Terror" in Pakistan. Yet while it is true that Bhutto was a vital part of the Pakistani fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda, the Ambassador gave a slightly different story of Pakistan's reaction to Bhutto's assassination. He first pointed out that Bhutto's status as a symbol of change in Pakistan transcended politics, meaning that while she was not always a perfect politician with perfect policy beliefs, her status as the first female prime minister in Pakistan meant that she would automatically garner a great deal of Pakistani support regardless of her flaws as a person or a politician. Mr. Haqqani went on to say that Ms. Bhutto's death dramatically increased support for her political party (of which Mr. Haqqani is a member), and actually allowed her party to gain significant seats in the next parliamentary election. I remember little or no talk of these beneficial repercussions of Bhutto's death in the media. Mr. Haqqani's sincere and frank response to my question somewhat took me by surprise. I hardly expected a proponent of political change and progress in Pakistan to highlight the good aspects of the death of such an important icon.
      As a final note, I thought it was interesting to see how readily Mr. Haqqani challenged U.S. policy in Pakistan. He blatantly criticized the U.S. for over-investing in the Pakistani military and not encouraging Pakistan to increase infrastructure, which he proclaimed is the real agent of security in Pakistan. The governmental/informational dependency filter in Chomsky prevents the U.S. media from such forthcoming reproach of U.S. foreign policy. Overall, I found Mr. Haqqani's visit to Andover thought provoking and intriguing, and it makes me question why I don't more consistently take advantage of the resources available for me to increase my own education here at Andover.