Sad News

I had some very sad news yesterday. A fellow student at St Antony's College in Oxford (when I was there 2000-2002), Michael Bhatia, was killed in Afghanistan on 7 May. Already before studying for his MPhil at Oxford, Michael had been working with different projects in Afghanistan and now he was working as a social scientist in consultation with the US Department of Defense. I didn't know Michael that well but we hung in the same crowds and it's such sad, sad news. He could have done so much more good for humanity.

Copied in is an e-mail from a friend of Michael's with details on what could be done in memory of Michael, in case any of you out there happened to also know Michael.

Although Michael parted ways with the [Catholic] church as he grew older, no one cared for poor, marginalized people and people who had been victimised by war and ethnic conflict as much as Michael did. That, to me, is so central to living a Catholic life and also so central to so many of our other great religious traditions and secular moral values. Simply put, no matter our faith, these are values that so many of us share -- and Michael exemplified them as well as anyone could."

CONDOLENCES -- The Bhatia family would love to hear from Michael's friends. They can be reached at [address available upon request]. Please do not send flowers; in lieu of flowers they are asking for contributions to a scholarship fund (see below).

FUNERAL SERVICE -- Services will be held during a Catholic mass at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Medway, Massachusetts. A date has not yet been set. Funeral arrangements will be made by Crowley Funeral Home at 3 Barber Street in Medway.

SCHOLARSHIP FUND -- A bunch of us would like to set up a scholarship fund to honor Michael's memory. His mother has embraced this idea and we will set this up as soon as we can. We would appreciate the assistance and involvement of anyone else if you would like to honor Michael in this way. The contact person for now is the class president for the 2001 Marshalls, Alan Trammell (amtrammell@gmail.com).

In these moments, I appreciate more than ever our friends from our group at Oxford and I know that Michael would be so touched by all of our mutual expressions of love and support. Michael's mother has requested that this information be disseminated widely to all who knew him so please forward this email.

More info at the Watson Institute for International Studies.