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Pakistani Student refuses Harvard scholarship in protest
Islamabad, June 19, 2008: A Pakistani student, Samad Khurram, refused his Harvard
University scholarship award presented to him by the US Ambassador Anne W.
Patterson.
The student refused the award during a function organised by
the Roots College International at the National Art Gallery on Wednesday in
protest against the recently carried out American attacks on Mohmand
Agency.
The US ambassador regretted these attacks, terming them a
"terrible misunderstanding", and refuted the notion that the student was
refusing the award, maintaining that currently there were 5,400 Pakistani
students studying in America.
The entire hall resounded with thunderous
clapping for the student, who was later on restricted by the management from
talking to any mediaperson.
In her speech the US ambassador, Anne W.
Patterson, underscored the need for "people to people ties" to strengthen the
relationship between Pakistan and the US.
"There is a myth that American
universities are hesitant to accept students from Pakistan," Ms Patterson told
graduates of the Roots School System who received private scholarships to study
in the United States and other countries. "All together, 5,400 students from
Pakistan studied at US colleges and universities last year," she
added.
Congratulating the management of the Roots School System for
"twenty years of outstanding service in educating young people in Pakistan," the
ambassador said she was impressed with Roots students who earned full
scholarships to study at selected universities such as Yale, Harvard, Princeton,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Dartmouth.
"With your
educational opportunities, you are the natural future leaders in whatever
profession you may choose," Ms Patterson told the students. She urged them to
"focus not only on getting top grades but also on broadening your vision and
finding how you can best serve society after you obtain your degree". -Online
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