Hammad Siddiqi
Encyclopedia
Hammad Siddiqi is a U.S.A based Pakistan
i economist
, banker and social commentator. He is the only son of former Pakistani politician Shahid Aziz Siddiqi
and educationist and social worker Shabana Siddiqi. He is the brother of Beenish Mahmood who is a jewellery designer for Tiffany & Co.
In 1996, he was named in the 100 Best Young Cricketers in Pakistan, which included future stars like Shahid Afridi
, Hasan Raza
, Bazid Khan
and Faisal Iqbal
, and was invited to a camp for fast bowlers supervised by former Test bowler Sarfraz Nawaz
the same year. Despite showing early promise, he did not continue with Cricket. Siddiqi is part of the new generation of creative and thought provoking Karachiites and was classmates with comedians Kumail Nanjiani
, Saad haroon
and film maker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinay
.
Born in Karachi
, he received a bachelors degree in International Relations and Economics from the University of Cincinnati
and a Masters in Developmental Economics from the Ohio State University
. He also received a Masters Degree and wrote his doctoral thesis in Urban Planning and Development from the London School of Economics
. Hammad Siddiqi served on the campaign staff for Governor George W. Bush
during the 2000 Presidential elections.
Hammad Siddiqi joined Citigroup
as a Management Trainee in 2003. He is an active contributor to various print and electronic publications on varied subjects from Economics to International Relations, Sports and Social Activism, as well as Literature and Cinema. He has recurring columns in a variety of different print and electronic publications including the Cincinnati Enquirer, The New York Times
, Dawn, The News International
, Chowk.com
and many more. He writes and comments using a variety of different pseudonyms.
He was a regular contributor to the now defunct broadsheet The Star (Pakistan)
which was Pakistan's most popular evening newspaper. He was brought on the staff by editor Kamal Majidulla as his protege. During his time writing for "The Star" Siddiqi published a number of controversial and hard hitting articles on censorship in Pakistan, the rise of parallel judiciaries (in the wake of the Mukhtaran Mai tragedy) and the rising popularity of chemical drugs like ecstasy
and acid
. After the article "Ecstacy in Karachi" was published in March 2005, he received numerous death threats from Karachi's powerful drug mafia. He also wrote for the weekend edition of "Star" in the absence of Asif Noorani
and interviewed stylist Tariq Amin
and architect Shanaz Ismail.
In 2005 Siddiqi was involved in the development of a current affairs talk show "Straight Talk" with friend and co-host Rameez Loan. The premise of the program revolved on the conflict between the liberal views of Siddiqi and ultra-orthodox ones of Loan. The show was set to be aired on AAJ TV and produced by Kalid Soorti, however due to disagreements between Siddiqi and the producers regarding censorship, the effort did not bear fruition except one pilot episode.
He is a vociferous advocate of the Partition of the sub-continent, an event on which he commented in Public Affairs Magazine in 2003;
"Most of us Pakistanis are proud of our country. Yes, the educated and honest among us realise the shortcomings of our young nation, and do not hesitate to criticise its current failings. But at the same time, we realise that these are the growing pains of an adolescent nation, not yet sixty years old.(http://www.indiareacts.com/nat2.asp?recno=2495)
In 2005 he attempted to make a foray into grass roots politics with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement
in Karachi however he has since discontinued his support for that organization for unspecified reasons.
External Links
http://www.dawn.com/2005/07/15/local2.htm
http://www.chowk.com/articles/13098
http://www.chowk.com/articles/13091
http://media.www.newsrecord.org/media/storage/paper693/news/2007/11/28/Opinion/Letter.U.s.Not.Paying.Enough.Attention.To.Pakistans.Plight-3117838.shtml
http://rodeo.cincinnati.com/getlocal/gpstory.aspx?id=100080&sid=121759
www.chowk.com/writers/2088
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=EDIT
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
i economist
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
, banker and social commentator. He is the only son of former Pakistani politician Shahid Aziz Siddiqi
Shahid Aziz Siddiqi
Nawabzada Shahid Aziz Siddiqi is a former senior Government official in Pakistan and Vice Chancellor of the Ziauddin Medical University...
and educationist and social worker Shabana Siddiqi. He is the brother of Beenish Mahmood who is a jewellery designer for Tiffany & Co.
In 1996, he was named in the 100 Best Young Cricketers in Pakistan, which included future stars like Shahid Afridi
Shahid Afridi
Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi , popularly known as Shahid Afridi , is a Pakistani cricketer. Between 1996 and 2011, Afridi played 27 Tests, 325 One Day Internationals, and 43 Twenty20 Internationals for the Pakistani national team...
, Hasan Raza
Hasan Raza
Hasan Raza is a Pakistani cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm offbreak bowler. He initially was subject to something of a claim for an international cricketing record, as his debut performance was believed to have taken place at the age of 14 years and 227 days, then a...
, Bazid Khan
Bazid Khan
Bazid Khan is a Pakistani cricketer. He comes from a famous cricketing family, with his grandfather Jahangir Khan having represented British India before the partition of India and his father Majid , and uncles Imran Khan and Javed Burki having all captained Pakistan.With a combination of an...
and Faisal Iqbal
Faisal Iqbal
Faisal Iqbal is a Pakistani cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional right-arm medium-pace bowler.-Early Life and Family:...
, and was invited to a camp for fast bowlers supervised by former Test bowler Sarfraz Nawaz
Sarfraz Nawaz
Sarfraz Nawaz Malik is a former Pakistani Test cricketer and politician who discovered reverse swing and was instrumental in Pakistan's first Test series victories over India and England. Between 1969 and 1984 he played 55 Tests and 45 One Day Internationals and was Imran Khan's regular new ball...
the same year. Despite showing early promise, he did not continue with Cricket. Siddiqi is part of the new generation of creative and thought provoking Karachiites and was classmates with comedians Kumail Nanjiani
Kumail Nanjiani
-Career:Born in Karachi, Nanjiani lived in Pakistan until he moved to the United States when he was 18 and attended Grinnell College in Iowa. Since beginning his career in Chicago, he has performed standup on a number of television programs including the Late Show With David Letterman, Late Night...
, Saad haroon
Saad Haroon
Saad Haroon is a Pakistani comedian, actor, and writer. Saad is the creator of the first ever Pakistani improvisational comedy troupe "BlackFish", he was the first Pakistani Stand Up comedian to perform in English in cities across the whole of Pakistan in his tour "Saad Haroon: Very Live".Saad...
and film maker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinay
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinay
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is a Pakistani journalist and documentarian. She is the first Pakistani to win an Emmy award, which she won for her documentary, Pakistan: Children of the Taliban in 2010...
.
Born in Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
, he received a bachelors degree in International Relations and Economics from the University of Cincinnati
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....
and a Masters in Developmental Economics from the Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
. He also received a Masters Degree and wrote his doctoral thesis in Urban Planning and Development from the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
. Hammad Siddiqi served on the campaign staff for Governor George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
during the 2000 Presidential elections.
Hammad Siddiqi joined Citigroup
Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. or Citi is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Citigroup was formed from one of the world's largest mergers in history by combining the banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate...
as a Management Trainee in 2003. He is an active contributor to various print and electronic publications on varied subjects from Economics to International Relations, Sports and Social Activism, as well as Literature and Cinema. He has recurring columns in a variety of different print and electronic publications including the Cincinnati Enquirer, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Dawn, The News International
The News International
The News International , published in tabloid size, is the largest English language newspaper in Pakistan. The News has an ABC certified circulation of 140,000. It is published from Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi/Islamabad...
, Chowk.com
Chowk.com
Chowk is a progressive website with a focus on the current affairs, politics and cultural aspects of India and Pakistan. Its stated goal is to provoke readers go beyond soundbites and uncover the truth, however uncomfortable...
and many more. He writes and comments using a variety of different pseudonyms.
He was a regular contributor to the now defunct broadsheet The Star (Pakistan)
The Star (Pakistan)
The Star is Pakistan's most widely read English Language evening newspaper. It was founded in 1953, in Karachi, Pakistan.It is published as part of the Dawn Group of Newspapers by Pakistan Herald Publications Limited . Focusing on controversial and current issues, the STAR has gained a reputation...
which was Pakistan's most popular evening newspaper. He was brought on the staff by editor Kamal Majidulla as his protege. During his time writing for "The Star" Siddiqi published a number of controversial and hard hitting articles on censorship in Pakistan, the rise of parallel judiciaries (in the wake of the Mukhtaran Mai tragedy) and the rising popularity of chemical drugs like ecstasy
Methylenedioxymethamphetamine
MDMA is an entactogenic drug of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of drugs. In popular culture, MDMA has become widely known as "ecstasy" , usually referring to its street pill form, although this term may also include the presence of possible adulterants...
and acid
Acid
An acid is a substance which reacts with a base. Commonly, acids can be identified as tasting sour, reacting with metals such as calcium, and bases like sodium carbonate. Aqueous acids have a pH of less than 7, where an acid of lower pH is typically stronger, and turn blue litmus paper red...
. After the article "Ecstacy in Karachi" was published in March 2005, he received numerous death threats from Karachi's powerful drug mafia. He also wrote for the weekend edition of "Star" in the absence of Asif Noorani
Asif Noorani
Asif Noorani is a Pakistani newspaper and television writer. He belongs to a Memon family migrated from Bombay, British India in 1950....
and interviewed stylist Tariq Amin
Tariq Amin
Tariq Amin is a Pakistani hairdresser, celebrity wardrobe stylist, hair stylist and media personality. He has salons in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi....
and architect Shanaz Ismail.
In 2005 Siddiqi was involved in the development of a current affairs talk show "Straight Talk" with friend and co-host Rameez Loan. The premise of the program revolved on the conflict between the liberal views of Siddiqi and ultra-orthodox ones of Loan. The show was set to be aired on AAJ TV and produced by Kalid Soorti, however due to disagreements between Siddiqi and the producers regarding censorship, the effort did not bear fruition except one pilot episode.
He is a vociferous advocate of the Partition of the sub-continent, an event on which he commented in Public Affairs Magazine in 2003;
"Most of us Pakistanis are proud of our country. Yes, the educated and honest among us realise the shortcomings of our young nation, and do not hesitate to criticise its current failings. But at the same time, we realise that these are the growing pains of an adolescent nation, not yet sixty years old.(http://www.indiareacts.com/nat2.asp?recno=2495)
In 2005 he attempted to make a foray into grass roots politics with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement
Muttahida Qaumi Movement
Muttahida Qaumi Movement generally known as MQM, is a liberal-secular political party of Pakistan. It is generally known as a party which holds immense mobilizing potential in province of Sindh...
in Karachi however he has since discontinued his support for that organization for unspecified reasons.
External Links
http://www.dawn.com/2005/07/15/local2.htm
http://www.chowk.com/articles/13098
http://www.chowk.com/articles/13091
http://media.www.newsrecord.org/media/storage/paper693/news/2007/11/28/Opinion/Letter.U.s.Not.Paying.Enough.Attention.To.Pakistans.Plight-3117838.shtml
http://rodeo.cincinnati.com/getlocal/gpstory.aspx?id=100080&sid=121759
www.chowk.com/writers/2088
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=EDIT