[LAP] Some reflections on ICLAP2019

Sun Dec 8 13:45:39 UTC 2019

My very humble request to all LEARNED members  please use this platform for academic and disciplinary matters relevant to Linguistic Association of Pakistan [LAP] and avoid such comments that may unnecessarily lead to similar or counter responses  (Is it ethical to discuss one’s present or former employer on a public platform the way it has been done here? Have we overcome all other serious inequalities around us and left with only making people equal at the meal table? Aren’t  different venues for meals purely because of logistics’ constraint? Aren’t academia and academics least responsible for promoting VIP culture around us for evidence compare BPS 18 & 19 officers from across government departments with a university professor in BPS 21 & 22).

Thanks

Prof. Dr.  Sajida Zaki

Convener ICLAP 2017 

Professor & Chairperson Humanities Department 

NED University of Engineering & Technology 

Karachi 

From: LAP [mailto:lap-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org] On Behalf Of Usman Ghani
Sent: Sunday, December 8, 2019 2:01 PM
To: Nasim Akhtar
Cc: lap at listserv.linguistlist.org
Subject: Re: [LAP] Some reflections on ICLAP2019

I am pleased to read observations and comments of honorable academics about things which are prevalent and very pertinent to Pakistani academic community in institutions of higher education.

We keep on presenting and listening to very idealistic situations from the world history in various conferences in Pakistan. However, when it comes to academics’ social behaviors and practices, the hierarchies and inequalities are strongly reinforced, as Dr Ahmer has pointed out.

I have attended many functions at International Islamic University Islamabad as a faculty member and found almost all of them strongly reinforcing hierarchies as if they were in a royal court. As for dinners and luncheons, the president and rector are given a special space while different deans and heads would be dancing attendants upon him like moths around a bulb. The faculty and some presenters, nonetheless, comfortably and conveniently mix with the students and the audience. 

Groups and individuals are certainly privileged over others and undue favors are granted to some which in no way  suits an educational institution. Unfortunately, in my observation, our universities sometimes try their best to be a replica of the ugliest situations of our society.

Dr Nasim has aptly suggested that it’s the responsibility of us academics to address, in our capacity, situations demonstrating inequalities which, in my view, lead to inefficiencies, misconceptions and discriminations in institutions of higher education.

Sincerely,

Ghani.

On Sun, Dec 8, 2019 at 09:11 Nasim Akhtar <nasimakhtarraja at gmail.com <mailto:nasimakhtarraja at gmail.com> > wrote:

I would like to appreciate you for pointing out a social inadequacy. Insignificant as it may seem, yet, I believe, it will have a far reaching impact on reshaping thinking of our community members. I couldn't agree more that being the leader of social change we the educationists need to put up best of behaviours to lead the transformation. We are not behind in criticising, but not in front in setting examples either. 

Stay blessed. 

Regards, 

On Mon, 11 Nov 2019, 14:19 Ahmar Mahboob, <ahmar.mahboob at sydney.edu.au <mailto:ahmar.mahboob at sydney.edu.au> > wrote:

Thank you ICLAP and GCUF for inviting us to participate in the 5th ICLAP. We enjoyed our interactions with the people at the event and learned a lot from each one of them.

At the same time, we also witnessed how and why our educational institutions are unable to address many of the problems we experience across the country.

Let me share one (of many) examples:

During lunch on the Day 1 of the conference, Mona and I chose not to stay in the VIP reserved-area, but instead chat, eat, and mingle with the participants. I went to one of the tables to get some food. The dish was freshly refilled with steaming yummy chicken biryani. Two people took the serving spoons and fished out all the pieces of chicken from the serving dish. Once they had served themselves, they saw that I was waiting in line. Embarrassed (even though I did not say anything), they immediately offered their plates to me, which I of course declined. When I shared this anecdote with Mona, she said that she had experienced something very similar in another section of the dining hall.

In reflecting on these incidences, we realised that the responsibility here lied with the VIP culture practiced in educational institutions.

If the teachers, invited guests, presenters, and students were sharing the same tables, things would have been different for at least two reasons:

1. The students/presenters would have seen that everyone is equal and we all share; as opposed to the culture of giving the best to the VIPs. [The students/presenters were essentially mirroring the VIP culture that they experience(d) and were giving themselves the best without much/any consideration for others.]

2. In the absence of authority (in this case, teachers), others felt that they could do and get away with anything. [Again, something that they experience in many of the other aspects of their everyday life.]

By replicating the VIP culture seen elsewhere in Pakistan, the educational institutions become a source of reinforcing hierarchies and self-centred practices in the country. 

Instead of modelling inclusivity and sharing, many of the current practices of our teachers/academia show that it is OK to privilege oneself (or an exclusive group of people) at the cost of others. 

How can educators bring about a change in society, if they fail to change themselves?

Ahmar 

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