Written by : Syed Mansoor Hussain.
Shared by :Syed Ehtisham
VIEW: APPNA, Advani and the plaque —Syed Mansoor
Hussain
The vast majority of the members of APPNA left
Pakistan before the winds of enlightened moderation
had swept the land and are thus entirely
uncontaminated by them. They are still very much the
victims of the indoctrination they had endured in
Pakistan
The Association of Pakistani Physicians of North
America, recently renamed as the Association of
Pakistani-descent Physicians of North America but
better known by its whimsical acronym, APPNA, is in a
state of turmoil. Before going any further I must in
the interests of full disclosure state that I happen
to be a life member of this organisation. A little bit
about APPNA first. The organisation is almost three
decades old and has the distinction of being the first
major organisation representing members of the
Pakistani Diaspora in the US. Today, it has almost two
thousand dues-paying members, which is an impressive
number for such organisations.
Over the years, APPNA has evolved and like most of us
has become an entirely confused desi organisation
without much direction. However, of the many competing
purposes that have emerged over the years, three seem
to take precedence. The first being its fraternal
function, second being the need for doing good work in
the home country and third, the need to help its
members in the professional and social milieu they
> live in. This has often produced considerable tension
> within the organisation requiring an intricate
> balancing act by the leaders that have been elected
> over the years.
>
> APPNA was founded and initially run by people from the
> Punjab, primarily physicians from King Edward Medical
> College (KEMC) in Lahore and their few friends from
> other institutions. Whatever people might wish to say,
> this is even true to a great extent today, as is
> obvious from the fact that of APPNA’s last five
> presidents, only one has been from an institution
> other than KEMC. The Karachi people from Dow and other
> medical colleges, though in a majority, were perhaps
> always too cosmopolitan to become involved in such a
> parochial organisation and most of them went on to
> other bigger and perhaps better things.
> Somewhere along the line, APPNA was discovered by the
> Government of Pakistan; affectionately know as GOP in
> APPNA circles. This first happened in the 1980s when
> the need to do good things for the home country became
> APPNA’s primary self-validating purpose. The previous
> ‘general president’ of Pakistan evidently had a
> particularly soft spot for physicians, especially
> those from the US. And, as the Punjabi doctors met the
> Punjabi general-president, it was love at first sight.
> In those days, the people running APPNA like most
> Pakistani expatriates were consumed by their need to
> return to Pakistan. Frequent trips were subsequently
> made by APPNA delegations and they were treated as
> VIPs on arrival in Pakistan. Grand plans about
> reforming Pakistani healthcare were presented and
> accepted but nothing came of it. Though a single visit
> to Pakistan with an APPNA delegation could get a
> Pakistani American physician a few plots ostensibly to
> build a clinic or hospital, and we all know how
> important plots are for Pakistanis.
> Since that time APPNA’s leaders have been close to
> almost every government of Pakistan or at least those
> that were dominated by Punjabis. The present
> government initially posed a minor problem but that
> was easily overcome. Punjabis, as we well know, love a
> man in uniform. And, the present prime minister
> happens to be one of our own, a real unvarnished
> Pakistani American expat, and a Manhattanite at that!
> Also, the chief of the ruling party is about as
> Punjabi as they get. So, the relationship between
> APPNA and the GOP became close once again.
> After 9/11 when the Pakistani American community was
> in great need of leadership at the local level, the
> leaders found it easier to concentrate on Pakistani
> issues. After all what sane Pakistani-American-Muslim
> would want to take on tough issues like the Patriot
> Act and institutionalised discrimination against
> Muslims? Some desultory attempts were made and are
> still being made by the leadership to offer at least
> lip service to problems facing the Pakistani American
> community. However, when the much bruited peace
> process between India and Pakistan came onto the
> scene, it presented a perfect way out for APPNA
> leaders.
> Always ready for a good time, they decided upon taking
> a large APPNA delegation for a “good will” trip to
> India. For some reason that is still entirely shrouded
> in mystery, during this trip the president of APPNA,
> in a function sponsored and probably paid for by the
> current opposition party in India, decided to give a
> plaque of “appreciation” to the BJP leader, Mr Lal K
> Advani. The man responsible for the destruction of the
> Babri Mosque is obviously not quite a hero for the
> mostly Muslim membership of APPNA. When the news of
> this award to Mr Advani got back to the US, questions
> were raised about the appropriateness of this
> decision, and worse, about the possible role of our
> beloved GOP in this unfortunate action.
> It might be appropriate to mention at this point that
> the vast majority of the members of APPNA left
> Pakistan before the winds of enlightened moderation
> had swept the land and are thus entirely
> uncontaminated by them. They are still very much the
> victims of the indoctrination they had endured as
> young people while in Pakistan and thus tend to think
> of most Indians as devils incarnate.
> The latest leaders of APPNA after coming in frequent
> contact with the latest GOP have however been
> completely transformed. As such the trip to India and
> the plaque was for them a perfect opportunity to
> demonstrate their new found enlightened moderation and
> spread it on to some ordinary members also.
> Unfortunately for the leadership of APPNA, after
> living in the US, most of the ordinary members of the
> organisation have actually started believing in
> bizarre concepts like participatory democracy and
> accountability of elected leaders. An electronic media
> campaign started by some such misguided members
> demanded an explanation from those responsible. There
> were even some calls for resignation. The president
> first tried to defend his actions and then apologised
> for giving out the plaque, using the “mistakes were
> made” formulation. Other members of the leadership and
> organisers of the trip rapidly distanced themselves
> from this entire matter acting as if they knew nothing
> about anything.
> It would now seem that somehow the mysterious plaque
> of appreciation with its unknown message was
> manufactured in the US and then schlepped across three
> continents without anybody, not even the president of
> APPNA finding out about it until “a hidden hand”
> forced him to present it to Mr Advani.
