Mr. Mohammad Sadiq is the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Pakistan in Washington DC. He has been in his current position for three years - all of which have spelled dramatic and remarkable progress in the Embassy's operations, community outreach and public relations, and the integration of young Pakistanis into the mainstream activities of the Embassy. Mr. Sadiq is perhaps one of the best known faces of the Pakistani Mission, who has opened his heart to new ideas and people, and put his mind to garnering support for critical initiatives that have fueled a rapid integration and connectivity within the Pakistani American community. From a small school in rural Sindh near the Thar desert, Mr. Sadiq has taken an educational journey through the University of Peshawar for his MS Political Science, and then the Columbia Univeristy for his MS in International Relations. As you will read from his interview below, his quest for learning was a main motivation for his career choice, and his intellectual journey still continues on the job. We walked away convinced that his intellectual curiosity and his ability to develop innovative solutions to old problems is the foundation for the successful initiatives he has implemented, for the benefit of all Pakistanis living in the US. We felt extremely proud of this gentleman, who is humble, approachable, and a very progressive thinker in all respects, with a great track record to boot.

Tell us about your personal background, where you grew up, your family and childhood?

Well, I grew up in Pakistan.  I went to school in rural Sindh, very close to the Thar desert; my college and graduate studies were in Peshawar, where I got my Masters in Political Science from Peshawar University.  Then I did my civil services exam and joined the Foreign Service.  After that I studied at the Columbia University and obtained a Masters in International Relations.  I come from a large family of four brothers and three sisters.  All of them are in Pakistan.  It's very interesting that none of my closest family members live abroad.  They always went back to Pakistan, in fact, all of my elders have eventually retired in our ancestral village and even though I can't appreciate the reasons for doing that at this stage, maybe eventually I'll fulfill my dream of retiring in a small place by doing the same.  It will probably be my wife's worst nightmare to see me growing vegetables in a small village (laughs).

Why did you choose to join the Civil Services as opposed to other professions like medicine or law?

Well, I was a pre- med student in my undergrad and almost got into medical school, but I decided to go for CSS instead.  There was a lot of pressure from my family for me to go to medical school but I didn’t want to do that.  From the very beginning I wanted to either join Foreign Service or teach.  The reason is very simple.  I have never told anyone this before but I think I am senior enough now to share it (laughs).  Basically, I have had two hobbies growing up: traveling and reading books.  I wanted a career where I could read a book or magazine on the job, and not be criticized.  In Foreign Service, the more I read on the job and the more I travel, the more hardworking I should be considered. Teaching could satisfy the intellectual portion, but Foreign Service could satisfy both travel and the intellectual progress.  It is a career that provides you with the opportunity to travel, observe different cultures, analyze and report on the situation in different countries, influence policy, and develop ideas and solutions that will help one's country on a global level. I'm very satisfied with my choice. I actually love what I do and if I had to relive this, I would do it all over again.  I would not trade my life for any other profession.  I look around and see my colleagues who may be richer or live a more luxurious life but I would still opt for this career.

Where have you served before coming to DC and how has the experience been in your different posts?

I think as it's true for every profession, each place is different from the previous, and has its own challenges and opportunities.  I don’t know if I am lucky or unlucky but I have a knack for landing in places amid extraordinary circumstances (laughs).  Like the day I landed in China, India had exploded its nuclear devices; I had to be briefed at the airport and from day one, got into discussions with the Chinese government.  From China I went back to the Foreign Office n Islamabad as Director for Kashmir affairs, which is again a very busy, challenging, yet interesting desk.  Before China I was in Brussels and dealt with the European Union at a very interesting time. That was a challenging time and a lot of responsibility; I had to travel a lot to cover the meetings at the European Council presidency capitals and the European Parliament.  Washington too has a lot of challenges and a lot of opportunities.  I have had to work here in the post-9/11 environment which is a very challenging time for the whole world, and more so from our point of view.  I am very happy that I got all these opportunities.  But my favorite place has to be Yugoslavia.  That was my first posting and in Foreign Service they say that your first posting is like your first love - you always remember it! Both my daughters were born in Yugoslavia, we traveled a lot and absorbed the country and its culture.  It really hurt me to see the War in Yugoslavia; I was living in New York then, and I went back to support and help my friends there in any way I could.

Now that you are the DCM in Washington DC, what are your responsibilities and what role do you play in the Pakistani Mission?

Typically, Pakistani Embassies don't have a DCM post.  But in United States the DCM is an established position, because of the structure and requirement of the US government and Foreign Service.  Essentially, the DCM's office is like a clearing house. Some 170 letters and files pass through my office everyday.   I perform a range of functions, but essentially my job is to assist the Ambassador.  My second responsibility is to coordinate the activities of all the Pakistani consulates in the United States, and the activities of all the wings within the Embassy.  Then finally, research and drafting of reports and policy papers consume a lot of my energy and it is also the part I enjoy the most. We have a wonderful team of diplomats in the Embassy and a leader like Ambassador Jehangir Karamat whose intellect, ability to guide and personal compassion are exemplary!

What would you say are your three biggest achievements in your term as DCM, that you are most proud of?

That's a very difficult question. We actually built upon the work of our predecessors in a lot of cases. But when I look back at my three years here, I will feel very proud of working to establish the Pakistani Caucus on Capitol Hill, the large scale electronic communication and database of the Pakistani Community, and the integration of our second generation, younger Pakistani Americans into the mainstream activities of the community and Embassy

What is the Pakistani Caucus on the Hill and how are you faring in its development?

This is something that the community wanted to do for a long time.  For a while the Embassy was opposed to the idea because we did not have enough pull to successfully build the Caucus.  It took us a while to understand how to do it, and finally we did it.  I am proud to say it is already amongst the largest country Caucuses on Capitol Hill today and it is growing fast.  In a little over a year we have 70 members, and by next summer we should have about a hundred.

Please tell us about the electronic communication initiative you've implemented...

We really started from the scratch. Government offices are not equipped to develop electronic databases. I still remember my first “mass” email. It was sent to 14 people. Today, we have the largest list serve of Pakistanis anywhere in the world. We have been able to cover a lot of Pakistanis who are internet savvy.

The Rising Leaders initiative has been a great success.  Can you tell us about the inspiration behind it and how it's doing?

I think it’s very important to work with the second generation Pakistanis to introduce and reinforce the Pakistani identity.  The biggest dilemma for the second generation Pakistanis was their Pakistani identity which was so difficult for them to explain and accept and some times to be proud of. Normally if they were religious they would associate more with the Muslim identity, if they were secular then they would go for the South Asian identity. They would forget about their Pakistani identity which is so important for us. We are Muslims, we are South Asians, we are Americans, and we are Pakistanis. But we have a very specific and very special identity as Pakistanis and Rising Leaders is all about that.  Initially we thought we were not going anywhere with the idea of creating a youth-based networking organization, but we persisted, and now it's a real success story. We have people applying for membership everyday; Rising Leaders have an office at Capitol Hill; they have funds coming in and a lot of people are showing interest. The Rising Leaders members who have moved from students to being young professionals are also now in a position to contribute to the efforts.

You mentioned that the main thinking behind Rising Leaders is to reinforce the Pakistani identity; what else do you think can it bring for the community and the youth themselves?

It’s basically a networking organization.  In this day and age, especially in the Western society, where you don’t necessarily have a Khalu, Mamoo, Chacha or cousin to guide you, this network that can help align you with what you want to achieve. In Pakistan, family is the basic network through which we go forward in our lives, select careers, get advice on education, and related issues for which one needs to learn and educate oneself before proceeding.  The basic utility of Rising Leaders is to provide that networking opportunity.  If you join Rising Leaders you would meet, say, members from San Francisco, New Hampshire or Buffalo, so you have this network all over the place.  Tomorrow if there is a job opportunity you have all these people who would stay in touch with you and you can reach out to them.  In this way, everyone brings something to the table.   It has a lot of value in this society.  Better networking affects the larger Pakistani- American society. If a Rising Leader gets a job in the Senate or Congress, then Pakistanis know they have a somebody there and they could go to that person for advice.  Also, most Rising Leaders are born Americans, or have been here for many years, so they are the mainstream Americans.  This provides a critical linkage between the first generation Pakistani-Americans (who usually like to meet each other), and the larger American society.

You have done a remarkable job in transforming the Pakistani mission.  What was your inspiration and how did you make it happen?

The first thing is that the Embassy is an institution where you keep on building upon what people had done before you.  Similarly, we have also built on the achievements of our predecessors. They did a lot of good things here, and we leveraged them. I think my biggest inspiration came when I was at Columbia University, I knew a lot of Pakistanis and could see that it was a very resourceful community but there was a lot of confusion in it as well.  You see, if you are doing well in Pakistan you will not leave it, so people who come here are generally not satisfied with Pakistan, and are looking for a brighter future and better economic opportunities and education. Which is fine! Pakistan's economy cannot absorb everyone and reward all of them at the same level of financial success they can achieve here.  But that initial reason for migrating makes it very critical to keep the Diaspora connected and interested in their heritage, culture, and country.  Otherwise, the country risks alienating a great resource.  Now, nobody will work with you if you have a bad image or poor customer service; you can make speeches, write good arguments, but no one will listen to you if your image is poor.  So we had to take some actions to let the community know that we care.  We were lucky to move to a new building, which gave us a better image and work environment.  Then we transformed our consular services and made them a lot more client-friendly.  We opened new Consulates and now have a total of four consulates in the US.  Having the database has enabled greater outreach as well, and combined with our operational transformation, we have received tremendous response and acknowledgement from the community.  Where we had a few hundred people attend the Embassy events organized for a visiting dignitary, we now have thousands.  We are very inclusive and we invite and communicate with everyone.  A handful of people have been offended because they lost their exclusive access to the Embassy, but we believe that everyone's equal and as such, all our community members are included in our activities.  My inspiration as such was to give it my 100% and I hope I succeeded in doing that.

What are the obstacles that you have faced and how have you overcome them?

The biggest challenges in big organizations like an Embassy or the government in general, is inertia.  People get used to doing things in a certain way and changing that is the most difficult part. The outside challenges are easier to address than these inside challenges. For example, take the idea of internship; every body praises it and likes it, but initially it was really difficult to sell it internally.  I think breaking down these internal barriers takes persistence.  If people are not ready to work with you, that's fine; keep them informed and eventually they will come and join.  This is what has happened with us as well.

If you had a chance to stay on, what plans or vision do you have?

Honestly, I think I should move on. I have played my inning in Washington and somebody else should get a chance to work here. However, one thing that needs to be done here is to work with the US media.  I did try to reach out to the mainstream media consistently but a lot is desired to be done. We regularly get bad press in this country. We need to improve on that. But that on its own is a full time job. You need a good strategy and resources to make a dent. Also, the good news coming from Pakistan should be consistent, and we should be able to use that here.

You have been here post 9/11 what would you say are some of the biggest challenges for the Pakistani community in the US; and how do you feel the community can meet these challenges?

9/11 was a wake up call for the community; suddenly we realized that we don’t have a spokesperson here. We had no representation in the media or the government. We are very well represented in some professions but not in positions that matter.  So after this turning point, you see that the number of Pakistani students in nontraditional fields has grown.  They are entering journalism, political science, government, law, etc.  This was not common before 9/11.  To build a community abroad, you need doctors and scientists but you need journalists, poets, authors, and people in the government; and congress more.  Doctors and engineers are critical, because they can help build a rich community, but a rich community is not necessarily a strong community particularly when it is a minority community. I don’t mean to offend anyone by this example, but Jews in Germany were in the same position in the 1930’s.  They were good professionals and entrepreneurs.  It was a very rich and law-abiding community.  But they had little say in politics.  So when the political troubles started they did not have the skills to identify and mitigate the risks in time. The Nazi knew no bounds. The dominant powers of the day looked the other way. As a result the sufferings of that helpless community remain unparalleled in modern history. For the sake of humanity and our sanity, it should never happen again to anybody. After 9/11, our community faced a situation that changed their thinking in major ways. I now see the realization to become a part of the mainstream society, and work with everybody else. People who are not like us are not our adversaries; they could become our best friends. The community realized that it needed to have people with softer skills who could communicate with other segments of the American society.  So that is the challenge and opportunity provided by 9/11 for the Pakistani community.

The community has come together in a remarkable way after the earthquake in Pakistan.  How was your experience in getting community support, what are some of the challenges still ahead of us, and how can the community meet those challenges?

The earthquake has been the worst natural disaster in our history. The community here has proven that they are very much alive to the issues regarding Pakistan, and they have come together as a nation.  I have never seen the community gel together like that in my entire career in Foreign Service, or in Pakistan.  The community has connected so quickly and collected so much money for Pakistan, it is remarkable!  But we still need to do more. We are talking about 3.3 million homeless. An entire generation has been wiped out. 8,000 schools have been destroyed. 15,000 villages are affected.  The entire infrastructure is gone.  The expectations from the community are at two levels.  First it has to make personal sacrifices to raise funds, which they are already doing and I am sure they will do more.  Secondly, on a collective level, we need to work with the US Congress and the Administration. We need a lot of support from here.  For example, on November 17, the community is organizing a Day on the Hill, to sensitize the Congress about the reconstruction work required in Pakistan. This is a step in the right direction. The community needs to reach out to their Congressmen, inform them of the challenge Pakistan faces and seek their support. People need to use this opportunity to learn how to establish and maintain a bond between them and their political representatives.  In short, the community mobilization is already happening, and we are very proud of it. We need the community to establish linkages with the US government, not just for the short-term, but on a long-term basis.

How can the community help and support the Pakistani Mission in establishing a stronger base for Pakistan here in the US?

We would like the community to stay in touch with the Embassy.  It is their Embassy; it is their institution!  We know that if we are a good Embassy, the community will be proud of us. We want them to attend the embassy functions, communicate with us, and send us ideas and proposals. We encourage people to tell us about our mistakes. That helps improve and refine our initiatives.  For example if you visit the Embassy web site and see a problem and send an email, somebody sitting here can improve on that one little thing.  That will be a valuable contribution.  This is how nations are built; this is how institutions are built.  No one person can do that.  Small things like correcting a grammatical mistake, or picking up a broken chair, or cleaning a table actually improve institutions.  At times you don’t know how much contribution you have made to the institution by a small helpful note. For example, we hold art exhibitions every few months now for the last year and a half, to portray the softer image of Pakistan. People are very generous with their compliments and they are very encouraging.  They also give us ideas on how to improve these exhibitions. Slowly and gradually we have learnt to hold better art exhibitions, invite more appropriate guests and have more interesting inaugural functions. This marked change in out art exhibitions from a year ago is because of those little suggestions here and there we received from the community.

Do you have any message for our youth?

I have one very basic message, for the entire community, but particularly for the youth.  American society is a mosaic of different cultures, religions, and ethnicities.  One could be part of this society and keep one’s own identity, culture and values. If you look at successful communities in this society, they have one thing in common. They have a lot of pride in their origins.  For example Armenians are proud of being Americans and being Armenian-Americans; same is true for Greeks, Irish, German, and other communities. There is no contradiction between being a proud Pakistani and a proud Pakistani-American.  The pride has its responsibility as well and you have to act in a responsible way that would make your community proud of you too.