Prof. Raj and S.M. Naseem, Kerala, 2004
My article published in the Aman ki Asha page on Sept 23, 2010
From Kerala with love
An over three-decade long friendship between Pakistani and Indian economists leads to an unexpected offer of help for Pakistan’s flood victims
By Beena Sarwar
The visa and travel restrictions between India and Pakistan mean that Indians and Pakistanis who become friends often meet for the first time in a third country.
For economists S.M. Naseem, a Pakistani, and Prabhat Patnaik, an Indian, the third country was Thailand, 1978. They were both members of ILO’s Asian Regional Team for Employment (ARTEPP) in Bangkok, headed by Prof. K. N. Raj. Prof. Raj, who died last year in Kerala, was also known as the author of the Kerala Model, and founded the Centre of Development Studies in Trivandrum after heading the Delhi School of Economics (where his students included Prabhat Patnaik) and as serving as the Vice Chancellor of Delhi University.
Filed under: Pakistan-India | Tagged: floods, kerala aid pakistan, Prabhat Patnaik, prof k n raj, S. M. Naseem | 1 Comment »
Journeys to democracy 