Fatima (National Coordinator)
Fatima holds a BSc in Economics from Warwick University (UK) and an MSc in International Politics from SOAS (UK) – and before anyone asks, neither of these degrees are fake. She’s been involved with Khudi from the very beginning and likes to think she was one of the evil geniuses behind the whole operation.
These days she’s responsible for everything from battling Pakistani bureaucracy to developing new partnerships to helping the rest of the team make Khudi look good. As a result, she’s pretty disorganized and can often be seen ranting, but she secretly loves it all. Except the title ‘coordinator’- she hates that.
Email: [email protected] | Twitter:@fmullick
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Imran
Imran is the debating champion of the Khudi Team. He has a degree in European History, Political Science and English Literature from Government College University (Lahore) and by the time you’ve read this, would probably have completed his MSc in Anthropology from Quaid e Azam University (Islamabad). And when we say debating champion, we mean business – as President of the GC University debating society Imran has aced his fair share of national debating championships. His Urdu is rumoured to be of ‘Iqbal-ian’ quality too.
Obviously his skills were in demand, so before joining Khudi Imran worked as a Communications Officer at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which is where we stole him from. He’s also a serving member of the National Students Federation (NSF), a progressive student organisation that works to bring social and political change to Pakistan. To find Imran just go along to any political rally against religious extremism and in favour of democracy, justice and the rule of law, and you’ll likely seem him there.
Email: [email protected] | Twitter: @imranmohmand
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Rab Nawaz
Rab Nawaz was a seasoned Khudi activist even before Khudi was born. At Punjab University he did more than just gain an LLB and an MA in Philosophy.; he managed to help inspire and become Secretary of the University Students Federation (USF), a movement started by a bunch of students who got fed up with extremism on their campus and rallied together to deal them a real blow. When the 2007 Lawyers Movement started stirring the activist scene in Pakistan, Rab Nawaz was still at it – he joined the Students Action Committee, agitating for the restoration of the deposed Chief Justice and a return to democracy in Pakistan. Rab Nawaz brings to Khudi his sharp wit and his infamous capacity for straight talk. And also his motorbike.
Email: [email protected] | Twitter: @nawaz_rab
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Shabbir
Shabbir is another one of Khudi’s passionate activists. Apart from his diligent efforts in organising rallies and mobilising great numbers of students during the 2007 Lawyers Movement, he also held the positions of General Secretary of the Young Journalists Society at Government College (Lahore) and President of the student society Anthro-Family, through which he hosted a weekly discussion forum for students on his campus. Oh, and during all this he even managed to complete an MSc in Social Anthropology from Quaid-e-Azam University (Islamabad).
After university Shabbir gained some work experience at Rozan, an advocacy organization working on gender issues in Pakistan, eventually becoming a training coordinator at the International Islamic University (Islamabad). He greatly helps the Khudi team by injecting a level of calm to the madness that sometimes ensues, not to mention his great people skills. Seriously, you have to meet him to believe it!
Email: [email protected]
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Ali
Where do we start with Ali? Perhaps with the fact that he was a brilliant student, earning a merit scholarship for almost his entire school career, and then going on to complete an aeronautical engineering degree from the Pakistan Air Force academy at Risalpur. But that’s just where he came from. He’s best known for his selfless devotion to activism in a variety of areas. He’s the founder of the Pakistan Youth Alliance, a network of 17,000 volunteers that has working centres in Canada, Saudi Arabia and all over Pakistan. Concerts, protests, vigils, seminars, walks, fundraisers, volunteer work with the disabled and relief work for victims of terrorist attacks and natural disasters – you name it and Ali has done it.
Is that all?
Of course not. He’s also been featured on the BBC, DW Germany, Geo TV, Dawn News and a host of other media networks. He’s so well-known that some students at FAST and Szabist universities have actually written a thesis on his extra-curricular achievements. No joke!
Email:[email protected] | Twitter: @Ali_Abbas_Zaidi
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Umair
Umair is a student of Literature and Media Studies at Forman Christian College. As a youth activist, Umair started his journey with the Institute for Peace and Secular Studies (IPSS), where he is now a core team member responsible for various administrative and advocacy assignments. He is also a web and social media manager at Khudi and a contributing editor for The Laaltain. Umair has a heap of unpublished shorts stories which he has been writing since his school days, and hopes to one day become a fiction writer.
Email: [email protected] | Twitter: @uvahidy