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MY WORLD

The Story behind a Scoop; More on the Borlaug Project in Africa; and about Two Do-gooders Many People do Not Like

S. M. Ali
(BCCI). Now. a much condemned man for all the misdeeds committed by hts scandal ridden bank. Abcdt. currently lying crtttcally III tn Karachi, may never be able to explain what prompted him to pour millions Into such a laudable venture tn Africa. Just to help out Bor laug. to placate Carter and the US black leader Andy Young who was also Involved tn the project or to step up his PR exercise with African countries? Perhaps all these reasons — or none. After all. aa time goes by. Abed I appears more and more a complex man even to people who worked with him and thought they knew him well
Incidentally, the financial gap in the Borlaug project created by the exit of Abedi has been partly filled by another controversial philanthropist. Ryotchi Sasakawa of Japan. The con
troveray about Sasakawa Is all about the source of his enormous wealth. It to said to be gambling. in one form or another, and this makes a number of organisations, within Japan and outside, most reluctant to accept any donation from him If Sasakawa Is generous In supporting what he may regard as a good cause, he certainly wantri recognition for hia contrlbu tlon It Is said that when the World Health Or ganisatlonfWHO) accepted a sizable donation from this Japanese philanthropist, the UN agency was persuaded to pul up a small bust tn metal of Sasakawa In the lobby of its headquar lers In Geneva.
Other UN agencies. all facing one form of financial crisis or another, would be delighted to accept help from this gamble king" if only his donation could be listed as contribution from an anonymous donor "
Sasakawa posed a dilemma for me too back tn late seventies
Then serving the Manila based Press Foundation of Asia (PFA) aa Its Executive Director. I came under a mild pressure from some non-Japanese directors of our board to accept a donation from the philanthropist to ease the organisation's financial ertsto. In return, all w>e had Io do was to set up some kind of an sward for journalists In Asia, named after Sasakawa However, the proposal was strongly resisted by PFA s Japanese directors, one of whom had said somewhat angrily that he would never be able to show his face to his country’s media If •re accepted any financial support from 'this controversial character "
It was quite a different matter for me to ar cepl a contribution from Abedi. For one thln£ BCCI was then going strong, especially with Its media oriented Third World Foundation, and Its image was In a good shape
During a visit to london In 1978. I called on Abedi to Interest him In the work of PFA which. I told him plainly, was caught In a cash flow crisis Hovrever. Instead of seeking a do nation. I offered him a bulk subscription of PFA s high priced weekly publication. Data Asia, for distribution among all the branches of his bank. He readily agreed and asked one of hts officers to work out the details So. every year. Data Asia earned 925.000 from the sale of the publication to BCCI The arrangement con tlnued for four years. Including two years after I had left PFA to join UNESCO, thus helping the organisation to earn an additional revenue of • 100.000
In return, Abedi asked for nothing from PFA or me personally, not even a bank account In BCCI or an article on hla organisation through our feature service. Depthnews
Many people will laugh their heads off if I describe the Incident as an example of Abedt s selflessness II must be something else, which probably worries Jtmmy Carter now as much as it puzzles me. I am certainly in good company