Second economist resigns from Pakistan EAC on the exclusion of the Ahmadiyya scholar

ISLAMABAD: Economist Imran Rasul, based in London, became the second member of the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) of the new Pakistani government to resign in protest against the exclusion of the famous American academic Atif R Mian to whom he was asked to resign at a backlash on his Ahmadiyya faith.

In response to pressure from the radicals, the Pakistani government on Friday withdrew the appointment of renowned economist Mian, a member of the Ahmadi minority community, from the newly-formed economic panel, according to media reports.

"With a heavy heart, I resigned from EAC this morning," said Rasul, professor of economics at University College London, in a tweet Saturday.

The economist said that he "strongly disagrees" with the circumstances in which Mian was asked to resign from the board.

"Basing decisions on religious affiliation runs counter to my principles or values ​​that I try to teach my children," he said.

In a series of tweets, Rasul spoke out in favor of Mian's appointment to the advisory board, claiming that "there was an academic on the ABC that Pakistan needed," he said. He was (Mian) ".

Wishing the government and the CAE the chance for the future, the professor said that he remained willing to offer "non-partisan, evidence-based advice" that could help improve policies. Pakistan.

Rasul said that if Pakistan is full of talent, it needs leaders willing to call on all these talents, and ready to call on our best parties, for the common good and not for the division.

Rasul resigned after another EAC member, Asim Ijaz Khwaja, professor of finance and international development at Harvard Kennedy School, announced his decision to resign from the advisory council following the announcement. exclusion of Mian.

The fall of the government came three days after defending the appointment of the academic to the CAE of Prime Minister Imran Khan, stating categorically that he would "not give in to the extremists".

Ahmadis are designated non-Muslims in the Pakistani Constitution and their beliefs are considered blasphemous in most major schools of Islamic thought. They are often the target of extremists and their places of worship vandalized.

Mian, a Pakistani-American economics professor trained at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the prestigious Princeton University, has recently been appointed a member of EAC, which has 18 members, to advise the government on economic policy. He is the only Pakistani to be among the top 25 economists of the International Monetary Fund.

His appointment sparked controversy after being opposed by several individuals and groups of reigiuos, including the radical Islamist party Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), who opposed his Ahmadiyya faith.