Pakistani Student Snubs US Award

"I refuse to accept this award in protest against the recent US strike on the tribal areas, and its support to unconstitutional acts of Pervez Musharraf," Khurram told a red-faced US ambassador.

He shocked the audience of a special ceremony organized by Roots College International on Wednesday, June 18, refusing to receive a Harvard scholarship award presented to him by Ambassador Anne W. Patterson.

Instead of shaking hand with Patterson and accepting his award, Khurram rejects the scholarship in protest at a US strike that killed scores of compatriots, soldiers and civilians, last week.

He said he was also protesting Washington's unwavering support to the policies of embattled President Pervez Musharraf.

"I refuse to accept this award in protest against the recent US strike on the tribal areas, and its support to unconstitutional acts of Pervez Musharraf," he told the stunned crowd.

Khurram's words put Ambassador Patterson in an embarrassing situation that only got worse after the entire hall resounded with thunderous clapping for the student.

"The US government has already regretted that incident, and has offered a joint investigation into the incident," red-faced Patterson told the audience.

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But Khurram insists the justifications and apologies were simply not enough.

"I have lodged my protest," the third year student at government department in the US famed university of Harvard, who returned to Pakistan two weeks ago to receive his award, told IslamOnline.net.

"I wanted to tell the US people that their government is not only supporting a dictator, but also killing innocent people, who have nothing to do with war," he added.

"I wanted to be part of the campaign for independent judiciary in Pakistan."

Khurram dropped the spring semester in Harvard in 2007 to participate in the lawyers' campaign for the reinstatement of the supreme and high court judges sacked by Musharraf in November.

"This is not the lawyers’ movement only. This is for each and every Pakistani who wants justice and nothing lesser than that."

Lawyers have been campaigning against Musharraf, who seized power in a coup nine years ago, since he first tried to fire Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudry in March 2007.

Musharraf sacked Chaudhry and around 60 other judges in November fearing they would outlaw his controversial re-election as president-in-uniform a month earlier.

Last week, tens of thousands of lawyers and activists streamed into Islamabad after a cross-country "long march" to demand reinstating the independent-minded judges.

Khurram, an active blogger writing about his country's politics, regrets that the US, which brags about exporting democracy to the world, has been supportive of Musharraf's crackdown.

"This is a deplorable fact that unlike the American people, the US government has been supporting the anti-judiciary acts in Pakistan."

He believes Washington must change its Pakistan strategy.

"Instead of supporting one person, the US must support the people of Pakistan. It must not go against the wishes of the Pakistani people."