Pakistani student refuses Harvard Scholarship as protest against American attacks on Mehmand

Wednesday June 18, 2008 (2238 PST)

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ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani student, Samad Khurram vociferously refused his Harvard University scholarship award presented to him by the American Ambassador Anne W. Patterson, which simply awed her into a terrible confusion.

The said student refused the award, which was presented in an event held by a private collage at the National Art Gallery, as a protest against the recently carried out American attacks on Mehmand Agency.

The American Ambassador greatly regretted these attacks, terming them as a "terrible misunderstanding", and stoutly refuted the notion that the student was refusing the award, maintaining that currently there were 5400 Pakistani students studying in America

The entire hall resounded with thunderous clapping for the student, who was later on restricted by management to talk to any media member.

In her speech the U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan, Anne W. Patterson, underscored the need for "people to people ties" to strengthen the relationship between Pakistan and the U.S. while speaking at the Annual Student Recognition Day of Roots College International at the National Art Gallery here today.

"There is a myth that American universities are hesitant to accept students from Pakistan," Ambassador Patterson told graduates of the Roots Schools system who have received private scholarships to study in the United States and other countries. "All together, 5,400 students from Pakistan studied at U.S. colleges and universities last year."

Congratulating the management of the Roots School System for "twenty years of outstanding service in educating young people in Pakistan," the Ambassador said she is impressed that Roots students have earned full scholarships to selective universities such as Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Dartmouth.

"With your educational opportunities, you are the natural future leaders in whatever profession you may choose," Ambassador Patterson told the students. She urged them to "focus not only on getting top grades but also on broadening your vision and finding how you can best serve society after you obtain your degree."

End.