APROPOS the well-thought out piece `Expat Pakistani talent` written by Dr Ishrat Hussain (June 11).

In this country, we viciously demoralise our talented scientists, researchers, skilled professionals and politicians of a high calibre. We humiliate, degrade and discourage the likes of Dr Abdul Qadeer, Dr Abdus Salam, Dr Saeed Akhter, Benazir Bhutto, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and many more, all because of dictators.

An individual with a Bachelors degree can one day become a Chief Secretary but not someone like Dr Ishrat Hussain or Dr Saeed Akhtar. I, myself, have undergone a livertransplant surgery at Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad, which cost me Rs6,000,000, so I understand the importance of skilled professionals.

If Pakistan is to keep pace with the 21st century, it has to change its conservative and parochial mindset.

Muhammad Siddique Unar Sanghar