LAHORE, Feb 8: A Pakistani scientist is going from pillar to post to prevent his possible exclusion from a race for an international honour for his research because of the suspension of Pakistan's membership of the Commonwealth.

Dr Aurangzeb Hafi is one of six scientists short-listed out of 1,376 from 900 universities in 60 countries by the International Scientific Council, headquartered in Britain.

The name of the winner of the award - "Man of the Year 2003 in Interdisciplinary Sciences" - is expected to be announced on Tuesday (Feb 10). Dr Hafi made a breakthrough in modern scientific research by developing a 'magneto-sectorial model,' which may leave far-reaching and long lasting effects on multi-disciplinary sciences, including agricultural, environmental and medical sciences, space biology, and magnetohydrodynamics (MHD).

The short-listed scientists, in addition to Prof Dr Hafi, are: Prof Dr J.A. Walker, Dr I.J. Richards (UK), Prof Dr Okada (Japan), Dr J.F. Larson (Denmark) and Dr S. Nevelli (India).

The winner's name was to be announced on Jan 15, but the announcement was delayed because one of the short-listed scientists was from a country, which is not a member of the Commonwealth. Pakistan's membership was suspended after the overthrow of the government in 1999.

Dr Hafi has approached the International Scientific Council with the request that he should not be excluded from the race for a reason which has nothing to do with the subject.

He told Dawn on Sunday that he was also looking for other remedies, and in case the council took a decision on the basis of considerations other than merit, he would not hesitate from taking the matter to court.

Dr Hafi was also considered for 'supreme knighthood,' which would have been the first to be awarded to a Pakistani since the partition of the sub-continent. However, some Israeli and Indian rivals challenged the matter before Sovereign Military Knights Hospitallers' Court, Malta, where it is still pending for adjudication.