Political Activism
After his dismissal from the university, Omar joined his father, retired Air Marshal Asghar Khan’s political party, the Tehreek-I-Istiqlal. In 1988 and 1990 he lost the national elections. Omar established/conceptualized many social organizations in the country:
- In 1982 he established the Pakistan Institute of Labor Education and Research.
- In 1987 he established SEBCON: Socio-Economic and Business Consultants.
- In 1989 he established the NGO: Sungi Development Foundation.
- In 1998 he conceptualized and initiated the People’s Assemblies Process.
According to Professor Pervez Hoodbhoy:
| “ | He, (Omar) and the organization he founded, Sungi, stood up resolutely to hostile maulvis opposed to education of girls and against the timber mafia in Hazara. As a member of Pervez Musharraf’s cabinet, he was a voice for the poor and disenfranchised. Omar’s achievements were extraordinary in a society so hostile to change and forward movement. He succeeded far better than most, with his unique mix of idealism and pragmatism. Many of us have our own reasons for being grateful to Omar. He was an open, caring, and courteous person who I had never seen being rude to anyone. I am deeply grateful to Omar that he encouraged me to speak and write about General Zia’s fraudulent Islamic science at the peak of that repressive dictatorship. | ” |
Among the major tasks he carried out as the head of Sungi was the fight for the settlement of the affected people of Tarbela Dam. He did a commendable job to stop deforestation in the Hazara division, (hence making an enemy of the timber mafia), and prepared different studies for the most deprived sections of the society, especially women, labourers and farmers.
The target areas of Sungi in the Hazara division were Haripur, Balakot, Kaghan and other far-flung areas, where, on a partnership basis, it developed a chain of small NGOs working in different villages of Hazara. Sungi was awarded the 1996 United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia-Pacific Award for its exemplary work in the field of human resource development.
Read more about this topic: Omar Asghar Khan
Famous quotes containing the word political:
“I hold it that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.... It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)