Akhtar Hameed Khan

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Akhtar Hameed Khan
Sitara-e-Pakistan, Jinnah Award
Scientific career
FieldsRural development, Microcredit
InstitutionsBangladesh Academy for Rural Development; National Centre for Rural Development, Pakistan; Michigan State University

Akhter Hameed Khan (

Doctorate of law from Michigan State University
.

In the 1980s he started a bottom-up community development initiative of Orangi Pilot Project, based in the outskirts of Karachi, which became a model of participatory development initiatives. He also directed many programmes, from microcredit to self-finance and from housing provision to family planning, for rural communities and urban slums. It earned him international recognition and high honours in Pakistan. Khan was fluent in at least seven languages and dialects. Apart from many scholarly books and articles, he also published a collection of poems and travelogues in Urdu.

Early life

Khan was born on 15 July 1914 in

Sufist philosophy of Rumi. This upbringing influenced his interest in historical as well as contemporary social, economic, and political affairs.[2]

Khan attended Government High School at Jalam (

Choudhary Rahmat Ali.[5]

Khan married Hameedah Begum (the eldest daughter of

Khaksar Movement. This attachment was brief. He quit the movement and turned to Sufism.[9] According to Khan, "I had a profound personal concern; I wanted to live a life free from fear and anxiety, a calm and serene life, without turmoil and conflict. ... when I followed the advice of the old Sufis and sages, and tried to curb my greed, my pride and aggression, fears, anxieties and conflicts diminished."[10]

For the next two years, Khan worked in Mamoola village near

Comilla Victoria College in East Pakistan, a position he held until 1958. During this time (1950–58) he also served as President of the East Pakistan Non-Government Teachers' Association.[11]

Rural development initiatives

During his tenure as principal of Comilla Victoria College, Khan developed a special interest in

Arthur Lewis.[17]

Advisory roles

Following his move to Pakistan, Khan was asked to implement the Comilla Model in rural settlements of North-West Frontier Province (now

Karachi University from 1972 to 1973. Khan went to Michigan State University as a visiting professor in 1973 and remained there until 1979. During this time, he carried on advising the Rural Development Academy at Bogra in northern Bangladesh, and the Pakistan Academy for Rural Development, Peshawar, on the Daudzai Integrated Rural Development Programme.[19] In 1974, he was appointed as a World Bank consultant to survey rural development situations in Java, Indonesia. He also briefly worked as a visiting professor at Lund University, Harvard University, and the University of Oxford.[20]

In 1980, Khan moved to

squatter community of Orangi in the city. He remained associated with this project until his death in 1999. Meanwhile, he maintained his support for rural communities around Karachi, and also helped to develop the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme.[18] OPP became a model for participatory bottom-up development initiatives.[21]

Major development programmes

Comilla Cooperative Pilot Project

Main article: Comilla Model

The

USAID.[24]

Comilla Model simultaneously addressed the problems that were caused by the inadequacy of both local infrastructure and institutions through a range of integrated programmes.

sub-district level.[26]

After Khan's departure from Comilla, the cooperative's model failed in independent Bangladesh

BRAC, to abandon the cooperative approach in favour of more centralised control and service delivery structures. The new strategy targeted the poorest villagers, while excluding the 'less poor'.[30] However, Khan's leadership skills during the course of his association with the project remained a source of inspiration for these leaders, as well as other participatory development initiatives in the country.[31][32]

Orangi Pilot Project

Main article: Orangi Pilot Project

The Orangi poverty alleviation project (known as the Orangi Pilot Project, or OPP) was initiated by Khan as an NGO in 1980.

basic health and family planning programme; a programme of supervised credit for small family enterprise units; an education programme; and a rural development programme in the nearby villages.[41]

Comparing the OPP with Comilla project, Akhter Hameed Khan once commented:

The Orangi Pilot Project was very different from the Comilla Academy. OPP was a private body, dependent for its small fixed budget on another NGO. The vast resources and support of the government, Harvard advisors, MSU, and Ford Foundation was missing. OPP possessed no authority, no sanctions. It may observe and investigate but it could only advise, not enforce.[42]

The successful OPP model became an inspiration for other municipalities around the country. In 1999, Khan helped to create Lodhran Pilot Project (LPP) to collaborate with Lodhran municipal committee. Learning from past experiences, the project extended its scope to the whole town instead of concentrating on low-income settlements only. The municipal partnership was itself a new initiative that ensured wider civic co-operation.[43]

The success of OPP did come at a cost for Dr Khan as his liberal views and self-help initiatives were questioned and criticised by certain interest groups. At two occasions, he was accused of blasphemy.[37] However, all allegations against him were acquitted by the courts of law and cleared by independent religious scholars.[44]

Death

In 1999, Khan was visiting his family in the United States when he suffered from

kidney failure. He died of myocardial infarction on 9 October in Indianapolis at the age of 85. His body was flown to Karachi on 15 October, where he was buried on the grounds of the OPP office compound.[45]

Legacy

Khan's ideology and leadership skills were a source of inspiration for his students and colleagues, and continue to serve as guiding principles even after his death.[46] Edgar Owens, who became an admirer of Khan's ideology while working at USAID's Asia Bureau, co-authored a book with Robert Shaw as a result of observations and discussions with Khan at Comilla Academy.[47] A later study of various rural development experiences from South Asia, edited by Uphoff and Cambell (1983)[48] was jointly dedicated to Khan and Owens.[49]

Soon after Khan's death, on 10 April 2000, the Government of Pakistan renamed the National Centre for Rural Development the Akhter Hameed Khan National Centre for Rural Development and Municipal Administration.[42]

Later in 2005, the Council of Social Sciences, Pakistan, in collaboration with the National Rural Support Programme and other institutions, announced the Akhter Hameed Khan Memorial Award.

gender discrimination. At the occasion of the award ceremony in 2006, a documentary film about the life and times of Akhter Hameed Khan was premiered.[51] The film includes archival footage and interviews with family members, colleagues, and contributors and beneficiaries of the Comilla and OPP projects.[37]

The Akhter Hameed Khan Resource Centre (AHK Resource Center)was established in Islamabad, under the auspices of the Institute of Rural Management, as a repository of published and digital resources on rural development.[52] The Akhter Hameed Khan Resource Center was initially formed in 2010 as a repository of works and writings by Khan and his mentee Shoaib Sultan Khan; after 2015 the resource center transitioned into an NGO that established an experimental site in urban development in Dhok Hassu, Rawalpindi.[53]

Awards and honours

Khan received the following civil awards:

Publications

Khan was fluent in

Arabic, Bengali, English, Hindi, Pali, Persian, and Urdu.[57][58] He wrote several reports and monographs, mostly relating to rural development in general or his various successful and model initiatives in particular. He also published collections of poems and travelogues
in Urdu.

In English

In Urdu

  • 1972, Safar-e-Amrika ki Diary (A Diary of Travels in America). The City Press: Karachi. 2nd Edition: Atlantis Publications, Karachi 2017.
  • 1988, Chiragh aur Kanwal (Collection of poems in Urdu). Saad Publishers. Karachi.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Yousaf (2003), p. 338.
  2. ^ Hasan (1996), pp. xiii–xiv.
  3. ^ Yousaf (2003), pp. 339–340.
  4. ^ Yousaf (2003), p. 345.
  5. ^ Yousaf (2003), p. 346.
  6. ^ Yousaf (2003), pp. 342–43.
  7. ^ Yousaf (2003), p. 347.
  8. ^ BARD (1983), p. xii.
  9. ^ Hussain, I (2006). "A cause worth serving". DAWN Magazine. 24 December. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  10. ^ Khan (1996), p. 23.
  11. ^ Yousaf (2003), p. 348.
  12. ^ V-AID was a government level attempt to promote citizens participation in the sphere of rural development in East and West Pakistan. It was launched in 1953 with technical assistance from the US government.
  13. ^ Chaudhuri (1969), p. 316.
  14. ^ Yousaf (2003), p. 349.
  15. JSTOR 2758513
    .
  16. ^ Yousaf (2003), pp. 370–74.
  17. ^ Yousaf (2003), pp. 350–51.
  18. ^ a b NRSP (2000), pp. 4–6.
  19. ^ Yousaf (2003), p. 352.
  20. ^ Yousaf (2003), pp. 352–53.
  21. ^ Uphoff, Norman (2001) Dr Akhter Hameed Khan: An Appreciation. Published in Yousaf (2003), pp. 409–13.
  22. JSTOR 3876623
    .
  23. ^ Raper (1970), p. vii.
  24. ^ Yousaf (2003), pp. 370–71.
  25. ^ Khan, A.R. (1979). The Comilla model and the integrated rural development programme of Bangladesh: An experiment in `cooperative capitalism'. World Development. Vol. 7, No. 4–5. pp. 397–422. Retrieved 6 May 2008.
  26. ^ BARD (1983), Vol. II, p. 190.
  27. S2CID 154209926
    .
  28. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0491.1995.tb00210.x
    .
  29. ^ Chowdhury (1990), p. 54.
  30. ^ Dowla and Barua (2006), p. 18.
  31. ^ Valsan (2005), p. 49.
  32. ^ Tahmina, Q.A. (2005) In Bangladesh, Potters Shape Their Future Archived 10 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine , World Social Forum. Retrieved 20 March 2010
  33. ^ NGO Profile (1995), Orangi Pilot Project, Environment and Urbanization, Vol. 7, No. 2. pp. 227–37. Retrieved 3 May 2008.
  34. ^ WRI (1996). "6 City and community: Toward environmental sustainability: Box 6.2 The Orangi Pilot Project, Karachi, Pakistan" in World Resources 1996–97: The urban environment. World Resources Institute. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  35. ^ Hasan (1994), p. 152.
  36. ^ Axinn, G.H. (1997). Book Review of Khan (1996). Agriculture and Human Values, Vol. 14, No. 2. p. 193. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  37. ^ a b c A Vision Unveiled (2006) A posthumous tribute to the man who silently brought about a social revolution in Pakistan.. NRSP – Institute of Rural Management. pp. 28–29. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  38. ^ a b TTE (2002). Return Of The Drain Gang – Pakistan Archived 8 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Television Trust for the Environment. Hands On, Series 3. Retrieved 1 May 2008.
  39. ^ Barmazel (2005), p. 191.
  40. ^ Sir-Cam (2002) Cam Diary: The common man's friend. Daily Times. 23 October 2002. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  41. ^ Hasan (1996), p. xxiii.
  42. ^ a b Introduction about Late Dr. Akhter Hameed Khan at Government of Pakistan website. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  43. ^ Hasan (2002), pp. 199–216.
  44. ^ "Pakistan: Use and abuse of the blasphemy laws". Amnesty International. 27 July 1994. Archived from the original on 1 September 2007. Retrieved 19 February 2010. AI Index: ASA 33/008/1994
  45. ^ Yousaf (2003), p. 386.
  46. ^ Sobhan, R. (2006). Democratizing Development in South Asia: Responding to the Challenge of Globalization. Dhaka: Centre for Policy Dialogue. p. 1. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  47. ISBN 978-0-669-81729-4
    .
  48. ^ Uphoff, N. and Campbell, R. (eds.) (1983). Rural Development and Local Organization in Asia, Vol. I. South Asia. London: Macmillan.
  49. ^ Yousaf (2003), pp. 409–10.
  50. ^ Akhter Hameed Khan Memorial Award on COSS website. Retrieved 13 April 2008.
  51. ^ A Vision Unveiled Archived 15 October 2004 at the Wayback Machine, Premiere of a documentary film on Akhter Hameed Khan by Serendip Production. Retrieved 3 May 2008.
  52. ^ AHK Resource Centre. NRSP – Institute of Rural Management. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  53. ^ The Urban Laboratory: One Year on, AHJ Resource Center. Archived 28 September 2020 at the Wayback Machine.
  54. ^ DAWN (2006). Ishrat Hussain, late Akhter Hameed honoured. 1 May. Retrieved 25 April 2008.
  55. ^ Khan, S. S. (2006). Dr. Akhter Hameed Khan Memorial Lecture (PDF). pp. 15–27. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  56. ^ Ramon Magsaysay Award (1963) Citation for Akhter Hameed Khan Archived 12 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine. 31 August 1963, Manila, Philippines. Retrieved 1 May 2008.
  57. ^ a b Miah, Sajahan (2012). "Khan, Akhter Hameed". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  58. ^ Hasan (1996), p. xii.

References

External links
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