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Abdul
Sattar Edhi
Mr.
Abdul Sattar Edhi was born in Bantwa, in India on 28
February 1928. One of the greatest philanthropists of
the counrty, Abdul Sattar edhi was born in the small
village of Bantwa in the junagadh state of India.He
migrated to Karachi in 1947 and began working for Memon
community organisation.In 1972, he laid the foundations
of Edhi Welfare Trust, an organisation that would grow
into the largest philanthropic network in Pakistan. |
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Edhi started out with a small office in Karachi's Bombay Bazar
and collected donations on the city's street-- a humble beginning,
indeed.Down the decades Edhi Foundation has grow into a massive
institution with 300 centres spread all across the country.Edhi's
ambulances transport the injured to hospitals, the dead to the
graves, his men travers war zones in times of political turmoil
and evacuate the victims of bomb blasts and natural calamities.
With the unwavering support of his spouse,Bilquis and a team
of highly committed workers, Sittar Edhi has saved millions
of lives and provided shelter and food to countless orphans
and destitutes. Clad in coarse, grey khadder, always wearing
a compassioate smile, truly a man of the masses, saviour of
the poorest of the poor.
Ahmad
Hassan, Dani
Dr.
Dani is one of the subcontinent's most remarkable archaeologists.
A Sanskritologist, he was the first Muslim to graduate
from Benares Hindu University. He worked with Sir Mortimer
Wheeler and helped him excavate Mohenjo-daro in 1945.
After independence he taught in Dhaka, and wrote a classic
work on east Indian archaeology. It was only in this
country that the remains of a civilisation older than
that of the Aryans were discovered. |
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The Indus Valley civilisation triggered a renewed interest in
the archaeology of this area. Ahmad Hasan Dani picked up the
gauntlet from where the colonial archaeologists and historians
had left and developed an integrated thesis about the archaeology,
culture and history of the land, which became in 1947 a new
century.The thesis about the individuality of the Indus Valley
as against that of the Gangetic Valley was first propounded
by him also set the basis of the creation of pakistan, other
than that on narrow ideology.With the collapse of the Soviet
Union the Central Asian routes were also opened, reviving the
historical links, hwich had been severed since the colonial
powers moved in. This again re-established the routes and the
cultural linkages, which had been responcible for the mix of
the Indus Valley. Dravidian, Buddhism and Islam all constributed
to making this land distinct from the Hindu hearted
Akhtar Hameed Khan
He
was born into a cultured family in 1914.Dr. Khan was
a very simple and straightforward person who devoted
his life to the uplifting of poor Pakistanis. It didn't
matter whether he was serving the poor community, meeting
the President or a high Government offical, or receiving
an award, he always wore the same, simple clothes made
of Khaddar (rough and cheap cloth). |
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Akhtar Hameed Khan attracted international acclaim in 1980 by
establishing the Orangi Pilot Project (opp) with support from
the then BCCI Foundation. The project overcome major financial,
technical and social probelms genegally associated with the
upgrading of low-income settlements. It provided low-cost housing,
education and health facilities to a population of one million
people. In the process, Akhtar Hameed Khan managed to re-establish
a sense of belonging, community feeling, the tradition of manual
help and coopirative action in a society beset with alienation
and dislocation. In 1936, Akhtar Hameed Khan had joined Indian
Civil Service (ICC) and resigned from it after nine years later.
Later he tought at the Jamia Millia in Delhi, then became the
principal of Victoria College in Comilla and finelly the director
of the Comilla Academy in East Pakistan where he was able to
undertake concrete development work. After the girth of Bangladesh,
he migrated to Karachi. Akhtar Hameed Khan taught development
administraton at Michigan State University for five years before
returning to Karachi to "pass his teilight years in quiet contemplation".
But in April 1980, Agha Hassan Abedi and Hasan Burney of BCCI
persuded him "to give only one half of his time to the preparation
for death and the other half to the OPP". The project remained
the centre of his activities till he died in October 1999.
Alwin Robert Cornelius
On
the promulgation of the first Constitution of Pakistan 1956,
Mr. Alwin Robert Cornelius was Appointed Chief justice of the
Supreme Court in 1960. He played a key role in the development
of jurisprudence and the principle of law in Pakistan. His judgements
formed the basis for the introduction of judicial review of
administrative action, due process of law, equality before law
and the priciples of natural justice in the legal system in
Pakistan. His historical dissent in the Maulvi Tameezuddin Khan
case stands as a model of judicial courage. His views in the
case greatly influenced the subsequent judgments rendered by
the Federal Court in the cases of usif Patel and the reference
by the Governor General. His contribution in the development
of 'Separation of Power' is significant. He held in a case that
the "divisition of function between the three limbs of the state
in Pakistan is by no means less clear that is it in England.
To observe and to respect this divisition is implicit under
the duty of liyalty to the Constitution which rests upon all
citizens but on particular, upon those who are entrusted with
the duty of interpreting and implementing the Constitution."
'Audi altrem partem' was one of the doctrines of natural justice
initiated by him, which provided immediate protection of rights
of the individual against the arbitrary procedure adopted by
a judicial quasi-judicial and administrative authority while
making by a order affecting the rights of private citizens
Asma Jahangir
She
may be radical, but sometime a radical vision is needed
to show the way forward. And in pushing for a just and
equitable society, fighting every inch of the way with
all the force at her command, AAsma Jahangir has willy
nilly become the symbol of human rights in Pakistan.
Stressing team-work, she once jokinly referred to herself
as the 'frontman' of Pakistan's human rights movement--
a role that means being under constant threat from armed
bigots. |
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Aasma and her sprirted sister Hina Jillani were politically
trained by their lawyar politician father Malik Ghulam Jillani.
When he was imprisoned in 1971, Aasma, then a college student,
filed a precedent setting case versus Federation of Pakistan,
against Yahya Khan's martial law. Married early, to the only
man she Knew in her age group who endorsed her view on the army
actin in East Pakistan, she completed her law degree after her
two daughters were born, and was 'allowed' to practice only
if she worked with other women. So AGHS and
its Legal Aid Cell was formed in 1980, by Aasma, Gulrukh, Hina
and Shahla. Increasing contact with injustice led to a realisation
of the need for Commission of Pakistan in 1986, arguably the
country's most credible human rights body. Aasma, recently retired
as HRCP Chairperson after serving two consective terms, was
last year appointed the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial,
Summary and Arbitrary Execution-- the first such position to
be entrusted to a Pakistani.
Dorab Patel
Speaking
at a seminar on capital punishment some yeras ago, Justice
Dorab Patel publicly regretted that in his tenure as
a judge, he had awarded death, he now left that capital
punishment should be abolished, given its finality and
the possibility of error even in countries with far
better criminal justice system than Pakistan's admittedly
flawed one. |
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His public admission illustrates the courage of convinction
and the principled stand that characterised this dapper, soft-spokent
man from a distinguished Parsi family. His principled resolve
was most serevely tested when in 1981 he refused to take oath
under the Provisional Constitution Order issued by Gen. Ziaul
Haq, which deprived the superior judiciary of many of its powers--
even though as second senior-most judge of the Supreme Court,
he was certain to be the next Chief Justice of Pakistan right
from its inception in 1986, he was its first ad hoc chairpersonb,
and first regularly elected Chairperson in 1987. He stepped
down from this post as required by the Constitution after a
second term, but stayed on as Chairperson Emeritus as request
by the Council, until his death in 1998.
Eqbal Ahmad
Edward
W. Said, the noted Palestinian political scientist,
called Eqbal Ahmad "perhaps the shrewdest and most original
anti-imperialist analyst of Asia and Africa". "Activict
scholar" is how David Barsamian, an American journalist
and auther described him, in a cover-story interview
for the South Asian Himal magazine (March 1999). |
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Ahmad, who studied at Princeton in the 1950s, began his crusade
against injustice and tyranny early. He went to Algeria where
he was active in the revolt against the French; he was a prominent
civil rights and anti-Vietman war campaigner. In the 1960s he
was academically ostracised while teaching at Cornell University,
for championing the Palestinian cause. After leaving Cornell,
he freelanced, and helped found the Transnational Institute
in Amsterdam, afiliated with the Institute of Policy Studies
in Washington DC. From 1982 to 1997, he taught International
Relations and Middle Eastern studies at Hampshire College, Massachusette.
He was made professor emeritus in 19998, and his retirement
ceremony in 1997, 'Celebrating Eqbal Ahmad', was momentous;
speakers included Amad's friends Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn and
Edward Said. The First Eqbal Ahmad Lecture was delivered by
the UN Secretary General kofi Annan in Sept 1998, as part of
the Eqbal Ahmad Distinguished Lecture Programme announced at
the event. Ahmad was frequently consulted by journalist, politicians
and bureaucrats. But in Pakistan, his 'friends' in high places
were unwilling to support him in public, or to help him realise
his dream, Khaldunia University, an alternative centre of learning.
None of them dared even attend his funeral when he unexpectedly
passed away in May 1999. His friends and admirers-- the extended
'Eqbal Ahmad family'-- were the dissident demanding an end to
nuclear weapons and hostilities with India, a settlement of
the Kashmir issue with the participation of the Kashmiris, equality
for women, religious minorities and the dispossesed, and a new
discourse in politics.
Ghulam Farooq
Pakistan at the time of independence had no industrial base.
It was left to the state to provide the lead in getting the
country industrialist. A person who had distinguished himself
in negotiating with the Indians over the divition of assets
seemed to have the drive and willingness to be entrusted with
a difficult assignment. Ghulam Farooq was the man behind his
gigantic effort of providing the lead in this vital sector.
He headed the corporation that invested in industries and then
handed these over to the private sector for their successful
running. Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation was a successful
venture that made the industrialsation of the new country possible.
He was also instrumental in setting up the military and defence
related industries. The intention was to make the country less
dependent on foreign countries for its defence needes. The big
units producing military and defence related manufacturing owe
their origins to Ghulam Farooq. When it was realised that Pakistan
was deficient in electricity and power and that it was not possible
develop without it, the task was again entrusted to Ghulam Farooq,
who set up Wapda which also oversaw the very difficult process
of implementing the Indus Water Treaty.
SIR Abdullah Haroon
A
leading Businessman and a distinguished philanthropist, Sir
Abdullah Haroon, in the words of the Quaid-e-Azam, was one of
the strongest pillars of the Muslim League.
He was born in Karachi and began his career as a merchant in
1896. In 1901, he became interested in politics. In 1917 he
joined the Congress and participated in the Civil Disobedience
and Khilafat movements. From 1919 to 1923, he was president
of the Sindh provincial Khilafat Committe. His brains and wealth
brought about the publication of "Al Waheed" (1920), a newspaper
promoting ideas of independence.
Sir Abdullah Haroon presided over the seventh Sindh Provincial
Conference (1920) and remained the president of the Sindh Provincial
Muslim League from 1920 to 1930. He played host to Bi Amman
-- the revered mother of the Ali Brothers -- in 1921 [ when
they were being tried in Khaliq Deena Hall, Karachi]. In 1923
he became a member of the Bombay Legislative Assembly [Sindh
was part of Bombay Province]. He demanded a separate provincial
status for SIndh in the Muslim Conference at Aligarh (1925)
and in the Leaders' Conference at Dehli (1926). Between 1926
and 1942 he was elected thrice to the membership of the Central
Legislative Assembly. He was president of the All India Khilafat
Committee for 1927-28 and attended the 1928 All Parties Conference
as a member. In 1930 he attended the all India Muslim Conference.
In 1930 he formed the Sindh United Party on the pattern of the
Punjab Unionist Party but his party could not win the 1936 elections;
it succeeded, however, in 1938.
In 1938 he organized the Muslim League in Sindh. He was the
man who piloted the partition of India resolution in the Sindh
Provincial Muslim League Conference in October 1938 under the
presidentship of the Quaid-i-Azam. Sir Abdullah Haroon presided
over the Punjab Muslim Students' Conference at Faisalabad in
1941. He donated ten thousand rupees to the League at Allahabad
in 1942.
He was very active in social welfare projects throughout his
life.
I
A Rehman
I
A Rehman is director of the Human Rights Commission
of Pakistan and an organising committee member of the
Pakistan Peace Coalition, a national body formed after
the Indian and Pakistani nuclear tests of May 1998. |
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Rehman
was editor-in-chief of the Pakistan Observer, a daily newspaper.
He resigned in the 1970s during the military dictatorship of
General Zia-ul-Haq and started an independent newspaper. He
later became editor of View Point, an independent weekly published
from Lahore. Rehman is a leading crusader for human rights,
a prominent art critic, and a well-known columnist. He is also
a founder member of the Pakistan-India Peoples' Forum for Peace
and Democracy.
Seth Habib
Seth Habib, head of the memon Habib family from Bombay migrated
to Pakistan on a special request by the Quaid. As menbers of
the Muslim Chamber of Commerce and owners of the pre-independence
Habib Bank with branches in Vienna and Zurich by the early 1920s,
their move into the banking sector in the newly independence
country was very natural. They brought their banking experience
and the Habib Bank Limited, as the biggest private sector bank
in Pakistan at the time. They diversified their business and
got into Modarbas and industries, investing in Jute Mills, Shabir
Tiles and Indus Motors, to name a few -- soon to be among the
22 richest families of the countries of the country listed by
the Ayub government.Habib Bank, however, was nationalized in
1972 in the Bhutto era. But Habib Bank was not the only venture
that held the family's interest in financial sector. They also
own Habib AG Zurich, an international bank with branches in
many foreign countries, and are major share holders of banking
organisation such as AI Habib and metropolitan Bank. Apart for
their interest in banks and industries, they are trustees of
many educational centers for lao-income groups, besides supporting
several religious institutions.
Hakim Saeed
A
great humanitarian, educationist and scholar, Hakim
Mohammad Said was the founding president of The Hamdard
Foundation and founding chancellor of Hamdrad University.
After partition, Hakim Said left his wealth in India
and migrated to Pakistan with barely anything. He committed
himself to the service of humanity by building several
indespensible institutions. Author of 36 books in Urdu
and 27 in English. |
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Hakim
Said had good command over the two languages and working knowledge
of Arabic, Persian, Pushto, Bangali, Sindhi and Punjabi. He
published more than 500 articles on science, medicine, history
and Islam. He received the Sitara-e-Imtiaz, in 1966 for his
selfless services, besides several other awards and instruments
of recognition, both nationally and internationally. As a practicing
physician, Hakim Said treated more than 3 millon patients in
his life. He was the Founder-president of Madinatul Hikmat or
the 'city of culture and learnung'. He was gunned down at the
age of 78 years in a terrorist attack in 1998.
Mehboobul Haq, Dr.
A
prominent economist, leading development thinker and
the creator of the widely acclaimed Human Development
Report, Dr Mehboobul Haq had a Masters in economics
from cambridge and Phd from Yale University. He had
a long and distinguished career as the Chief Economist
of Pakistan Planning Commission (1957-70), formulating
the first four five-tears plans. |
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From 1970-82 he served as director of the World Bank's Policy
Planning Department and from 1982 till 1988 as federal Planning
and Finance Minister. Since 1990, Dr. Haq's major contribution
remained the annual Human development reports, which greatly
inspired major UN conference on human development. Many countries
around the world are now emulating this idea by producing their
own reports. While appreciation by some, he was criticied by
others for serving Pakistan government during Ayub and Zia.
Justice M.R.Kayani,
When Ayub khan's martial law and the accompanying censorship
rendered the whole country speechless, Justice M.r Khyani's
voice rang louder' for his was a voice of dissent. The Munir
Kayani report which co-authored at the end of laborious investigations
into the anti-Ahmedi riots of 1953 remains the most telling
treatise on the dangers of succumbing to an ideological framework.
As a judge and then chief justice, his speeches at various formus
were widely covered by the national prees, not least because
of the rare combination of intellect, wit, courage and integrity
he personified. He originally belonged to the Civil Service
of Pakistan and after having served for eight years on the executive
side, was transferred to the judiciary in 1938. He rose to become
a judge of the Punjab High Court in 1949 and then the chief
justice of the West Pakistan High Court in 1958. In 1956, he
was ecelted president of the West Pakistan Branch of the CSP
Association in which capacity he strove to uphold the status
of the Civil Service of Pakistan. His characteristic brand of
humour and caustic, witty remarks did not spare even presidents.
The most popular speaker of the country in the last four years
of his life, a collection of his speeches have appeared in the
fomrm of various books like The Whole Truth, Not the Whole Truth,
Half truths, A judge May Laugh and Afkar-e-Parishen.
Nayyer Ali Dada
With the Agha Khan award (awarded for his Alhamra masterpiece),
the Kenneth award presented by the University of Hawali, the
Arcacia Gold medal for public buildings and the Pride of Performence
all under his belt, Nayyer Ali Dada has fast become a household
name. A graduate from the National College of Art, he was initially
attracted to the canvas but soon the drift towards architecture
took place. What lured him into this arena was the fusion between
the romance of the past and the technology of the future that,
he feels architecture allows. Shakir Ali Museum and Alhamra
on the Mall in Lahore were both amongst his earlier pieces and
are deemed as masterpiece. His more modern designs are admired
in their own way, however, it seems as if the magic has been
lost. He explain this by stating how people used to be far more
sensitive then than they are now. Many a critic today that his
designs are now becoming more of an aesthetic piece than a place
to live or work in. But despite all the critisms and the court
battles that he's had to fight, at the end of the day he's still
the person most would opt for if they can afford him -- that
is.
Alys
Faiz
Human
rights crusader, peace activist and wife of poet Faiz Ahmad
Faiz.Born on Sept 22, 1914, in London, Alys Faiz came to India
in 1938 to visit her elder sister, Christobel (Bilqees), who
was married to Dr M.D. Taseer. She could not go back to her
country because of World War II and decided to stay on. She
married Faiz, who was teaching at the MAO College in Amritsar
at that time, in October 1941.
The wedding took place in Srinagar and their nikah was solemnized
by prominent Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdullah. She was given
a Muslim name, Kulsoom, when she embraced Islam at the time
of her marriage, but she always remained Alys to her friends
and admirers.
Alys Faiz had joined the Communist Party of Britain when she
was only 16. She also served as secretary to Mr Krishna Menon,
who was then in London, and took an active part in the subcontinent's
independence struggle.
She joined The Pakistan Times in 1950 and looked after the women's
and children's sections of the newspaper. She joined the newspaper's
regular staff in 1951 after the arrest of her husband in the
so-called Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case. She also started the newspaper's
reference section.
Mrs Faiz taught special children in Karachi when her family
settled there in the late 1950s. She started working for Unicef
when Faiz moved to Islamabad. She joined the weekly Viewpoint
after the family returned to Lahore following a period living
abroad in Beirut.
Ayesha
Jalal
A
historian whose books on the history and culture of
Pakistan and India have consistently overturned previously
held assumptions. Her works have explored the creation
of the Pakistani state, its struggle to become a democracy,
Indian-Pakistani relations, and current changes in Muslim
identity in the face of modernity and globalization. |
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She specializes in decolonization, problems of sovereignty,
identity, citizenship and democracy, Islam, and women and the
state. She received her B.A. from Wellesley in 1978 and her
Ph.D. from Cambridge in 1983. She was an associate professor
of History at Columbia U., and is the recent recipient of a
Macarthur "genius" award. She is currently professor of history
at Tufts University.
Ansar
Burney
Mr.
Ansar Burney, Advocate, was the first man to introduce
true human rights in Pakistan over 21 years ago and
is continuing to fight for this just cause
ever since.
Ansar Burney was born in Karachi, Pakistan on 14th August,
1956. He did his graduation, Master's and Law from Karachi
University. |
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Later he
received an honorary degree of PhD. in Philosophy from Sri Lanka.During
his education he was a very prominent student leader.
As a student leader he always raised his voice for Justice without
discrimination, human rights, peace and democracy. In 1977,
Mr. Burney was arrested on a charge of delivering speeches against
Martial Law and in favour of Democracy and Human Rights in Pakistan.
He was sentenced for 8 months rigorous imprisonment and was
sent to prison by the Martial Law Authorities. After the completion
of his rigorous imprisonment in 1978, he was released from prison
but after a short time was later again arrested by the Martial
Law Authorities who sent him to Karachi Prison for 2 months
detention. In 1979 he was again arrested for the third time
and detained for a month.
During his sentence and detention in different Pakistani Prisons
he got the opportunity to closely see the miserable conditions
of the prisoners. During his time in prison he met several innocent
people who were lodged in prison without any crime or on false
and fake criminal charges that they had never committed. That
was the time when he decided to help these innocent people,
purely on non-political and humanitarian grounds.
In 1980-81 after completing his law degree, Ansar Burney, Advocate
started working on his project to bring reforms in prisons and
get the release of innocent and illegally confined or detained
prisoners.
Syed Ansar Ahmed Burney, son of Syed Mukhtar Ahmed Burney, started
his noble mission in 1980 by setting up the "Ansar Burney Welfare
Trust" (ABWT), "Prisoners Aid Society", "Bureau of Missing and
Kidnapped Persons" and "Commission against Terrorism" at 6 -
Hassan Manzil, Arambagh Road, Karachi, Pakistan. The Trust is
now also registered in Washington, D.C in United States of America
as a non-governmental, non-political and non-profitable human
and civil rights organization.
Talat
Abbasi
Talat
Abbasi comes from Karachi, was educated in Karachi,
Lahore and the London School of Economices. Since 1978
she has lived in New York, where she works in an international
organization and has specialized in gender and population.
Literature was always her first love, and philosophy
a second, but neither were considered 'useful' subjects
so she studied economics. |
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In spite of her lack of interest in the subject, being at the
London School of Economics was fascinating enough that she enjoyed
herself regardless, and 'grew up in a way that I wouldn't have
had I not left for foreign shores'.
Ms.
Ghazalah Afghan
Ms.
Ghazalah Afghan is a long-time human rights advocate who
has spent most of her adult life working with women in
Sindh.
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At present, Ms. Afghan is working against violence against women
in Pakistan, with a special focus on those customs and traditions
in Sindh that are tantamount to women’s rights violations.
Additionally, since 1992, she has been working with the Women's
Action Forum and other women’s organizations including Shirkat
Gah, the Aurat Foundation, War Against Rape, and the Human Rights
Commission of Pakistan. Ms. Afghan offers to her audiences direct,
personal accounts from her own life, as well as from those with
whom she works. She is based in Sindh, Pakistan, but travels
extensively so is available to speak to audiences around the
world.
Mr.
Afrasiab Khattak
Mr.
Afrasiab Khattak joined the Human Rights Commission
of Pakistan (HRCP) in 1989, and served as the Vice Chairman
of HRCP/Frontier Province, for thtree years.
During this period he pleaded in court several cases
involving human rights violations. In April 1999, he
was threatened by extremist factions for demonstrating
against “honor killing in Peshawar. |
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On May 2, 1999, he was unanimously elected Chairperson of HRCP
for a three-year-term. Mr. Khattak is a strong promoter of peace
between Pakistan and India and is a member of Pakistan-India
People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy, an NGO that works
in both Pakistan and India. Mr. Khattak speaks to audiences
around the world, and is available to present on any of his
various experiences in Pakistan.
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Pakistan
Social Leading Personalities
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