Important Places and Personalities in Pakistan

[Frankenstein]

Air Marshal Nur Khan [February 1923 – 15 December 2011]

A paragon of probity, uprightness, sagacity and pure brilliance; qualities that shone through each stride of his, throughout his life.

The man who led the Pakistan Air Force outstandingly to achieve parity over the three times bigger Indian air force on the very first day of the 1965 war. He was the Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Air Force from 1965 to 1969.

He was widely respected not only for his integrity but also for his sharp intelligence and outstanding management abilities. He later served as the Governor of West Pakistan and President of Pakistan Hockey Federation and Pakistan Cricket Board.

May he fly high in his Final Flight, Rest in Peace.

Remembering Madame Noor Jehan
[September 21, 1926 – December 23, 2000]

Noor Jehan, the Melody Queen, affected the lives and standards of Pakistan’s impressionable society as no singer has done in the sub-continent before her. There have been many more brilliant crooners in this region ever since the Mughal Period; but there’s no past example of such a singer who has influenced people of the two parts of sub-continent in so many various aspects of the social life. There is no other singer of such influence and long-term personal response as Noor Jehan in the 80-year film history of the sub-continent.

Noor Jehan the reigned supreme over the South Asian music scene for more than six decades. She rose from near oblivion of the
backwaters of Kasur, then hardly more than middle-sized Punjab town, to the dizzy heights of stardom as far back as the 40s, with
songs ranging from cclassical to folk and ghazal to geet. Her mastery over melody with a strong background of classical music remains unmatched. She sang Punjabi songs and Urdu ghazals with equal ease and amazing finesse.

Noor Jehan was born in Kasur on Sept 21, 1926. Her given name was Allah Wasai. She started her career on the stage at the age of six when Dewan Sardari Lal, financier of a theatre in Calcutta, took her there with her two older sisters Eiden Bai and Haidri Bandi, who were both stage singers. The three sisters instantly shot into the limelight. Allah Wasai became Baby Noor Jehan and never looked back again.

With a voice that pierced the soul and a personality that won hearts on both sides of the border, Noor Jehan shall always remain alive in the hearts and minds of her fans all over the world.

Parveen Shakir [November 24, 1952 - December 26, 1994] was a great Urdu Poet, Teacher and a Civil Servant of the Government of Pakistan.

Shakir started writing at an early age and published her first volume of poetry, Khushbu [Fragrance], to great acclaim, in 1976. She subsequently published other volumes of poetry - all well-received - Sad-barg [Marsh Marigold] in 1980, Khud Kalami [Soliloquy] and Inkar [Denial] in 1990, Kaf e Aina [The Mirror's Edge] besides a collection of her newspaper columns, titled Gosha-e-Chashm [The Sight Corner], and was awarded one of Pakistan's highest honours, the Pride of Performance for her outstanding contribution to literature.

Arguably, Shakir can be termed the first poetess to use the word larki [girl] in her works — the male-dominated Urdu poetry scene seldom employs that word, and uses masculine syntax when talking about the 'lover'. Similarly, she often made use of the Urdu first-person, feminine pronoun in her verses which, though extremely common in prose, was rarely used in poetry, even by female poetesses, before her.

Some of Shakir's ghazalyaat or, more specifically, couplets, have gained an iconic status in Urdu literature. One of her most famous couplets if the one given above. Another famous, Shakir couplet is "Jugnuu ko din kay wakt parakhne ki zid karain/ Bachchay hamaray ehed kay chalaak ho gaye" [They insist upon evaluating the firefly in daylight/ The children of our age, have grown clever], which is often quoted to comment on the often surprising knowledge and awareness of the 21st century child.

On Dec 26th, 1994, Shakir's car collided with a bus while she was on her way to work in Islamabad. The accident resulted in her death, a great loss to the Urdu poetry world. The road on which the accident took place is named after her.

71 years ago,on 23rd March...thousands of Muslims from all over the sub-continent gathered in Lahore.They had one dream, one vision and one mission, that was to have a separate homeland for Muslims of the sub-continent.On that day, under the able leadership of M. Ali Jinnah and others, the struggle for Pakistan started and it ended with the creation of Pakistan!!

The Lahore (Pakistan) Resolution was presented by A. K. Fazlul Huq (person in white sherwani standing with Mohammad Ali Jinnah!)

On his 15th Death Anniversary, we dare to remember a man, a genius, a Pakistani who was and is conveniently and blatantly unacknowledged by this nation.
While the world clamoured in his praise, in his own home and by his own people, he was treated with nothing but shameless disdain.
He longed to be 'owned' by his Pakistan but, in vain.
In hope of a Pakistan, where sanity will prevail and that will someday, recognize and accept you in its history as a son that made this soil proud - we say, Rest in peace, Dr. Abdus Salam - a theoretical physicist who received the country's only Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979 for his work in Electro-Weak Theory.

Waheed Murad [October 2, 1938 – November 23, 1983], a legendary Pakistani film Actor and Film-Maker. Waheed is also widely considered to be one of the most famous and influential actors of subcontinent.

 

[Frankenstein]

and offcourse, Imran Khan Niazi - born 25 November 1952.
One of the Cricket's all time great, philanthropist and Pakistani politician [Head of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf]. Imran Khan is widely considered to be the best ever all rounder. He was the winner of the 1992 World Cup. Khan is also a cricket commentator, Chancellor of the University of Bradford, Founder and Chairman Board of Governors of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre.

Some of his Awards & Honors:
- In 1992, Khan was given Pakistan's civil award, the Hilal-i-Imtiaz
- In 1983, he had received the President’s Pride of Performance Award
- Khan is featured in the University of Oxford's Hall of Fame and has been an honorary fellow of Oxford's Keble College.
-On 7 December 2005, Khan was appointed the fifth Chancellor of the University of Bradford, where he is also a patron of the Born in Bradford research project.
- In 1976 as well as 1980, Khan was awarded The Cricket Society Wetherall Award for being the leading all-rounder in English first-class cricket.
- In 1983, he was also named Wisden Cricketer of the Year
- In 1985, Sussex Cricket Society Player of the Year
- In 1990, Indian Cricket Cricketer of the Year
- On 5 July 2008, he was one of several veteran Asian cricketers presented special silver jubilee awards at the inaugural Asian cricket Council (ACC) award ceremony in Karachi.
- On 8 July 2004, Khan was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2004 Asian Jewel Awards in London, for "acting as a figurehead for many international charities and working passionately and extensively in fund-raising activities.
- On 13 December 2007, Khan received the Humanitarian Award at the Asian Sports Awards in Kuala Lumpur for his efforts in setting up the first cancer hospital in Pakistan.
- In 2009, at International Cricket Council's centennial year celebration, Khan was one of fifty-five cricketers inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.

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Allama Muhammad Iqbal,

 

[Frankenstein]

Benazir Bhutto [21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007] was a Pakistani democratic socialist who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a former prime minister of Pakistan and the founder of the Pakistan People's Party, which she led.

In 1982, at age 29, Benazir Bhutto became the chairwoman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)—a democratic socialist, centre-left party, making her the first woman in Pakistan to head a major political party. In 1988, she became the first woman elected to lead a Muslim state and was also Pakistan's first (and thus far, only) female prime minister. Noted for her charismatic authority and political astuteness, Benazir Bhutto drove initiatives for Pakistan's economy and national security, and she implemented social capitalist policies for industrial development and growth. In addition, her political philosophy and economic policies emphasized deregulation (particularly of the financial sector), flexible labor markets, the denationalization of state-owned corporations, and the withdrawal of subsidies to others. Benazir Bhutto's popularity waned amid recession, corruption, and high unemployment which later led to the dismissal of her government by conservative President Ghulam Ishaq Khan.

In 1993, Benazir Bhutto was re-elected for a second term after the 1993 parliamentary elections. She survived an attempted coup d'état in 1995, and her hard line against the trade unions and tough rhetoric opposition to her domestic political rivals and to neighboring India earned her the nickname "Iron Lady"; she is also respectfully referred to as B.B. In 1996, the charges of corruption leveled against her led to the final dismissal of her government by President Farooq Leghari. Benazir Bhutto conceded her defeat in the 1997 Parliamentary elections and went into self-imposed exile in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in 1998.

After nine years of self-exile, she returned to Pakistan on 18 October 2007, after having reached an understanding with Military President General Pervez Musharraf, by which she was granted amnesty and all corruption charges were withdrawn. Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a bombing on 27 December 2007, after leaving PPP's last rally in the city of Rawalpindi, two weeks before the scheduled Pakistani general election of 2008 in which she was a leading opposition candidate. The following year, she was named one of seven winners of the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights.

 

[Yeti]

Rana Bhagwandas

 

[Frankenstein]

Nazia Hassan (Urdu: نازیہ حس&#1606 (April 3, 1965 – August 13, 2000[) was an iconic Pakistani pop singer. Her song "Aap Jaisa Koi" from the Indian film Qurbani (1980) made her a legend and pop icon in Pakistan and all of South Asia in the 1980s, where she is admired and loved even today, years after her death. Her debut album Disco Deewane (1981) also charted in fourteen countries worldwide and became the best-selling Asian pop record up until that time. Nazia Hassan, along with her brother Zohaib Hassan, went on to sell over 60 million records worldwide.[3]

Nazia was the first Pakistani to win a Filmfare Award and remains the youngest winner of a Filmfare Award in the category of Best Female Playback Singer to date. She was 15.

She was the pioneer of pop songs in South Asia!

 

[Leader]

Ashfaq Ahmad

Ashfaq Ahmed (August 22, 1925 – September 7, 2004) was a distinguished writer, playwright, broadcaster, intellectual and spiritualist from Pakistan. His prime qualities of heart and hand earned appreciations across the world.

 

[boris]

How about adding Brigadier Tariq Mehmood,

 

[Yeti]

There is one man who deserves a special mention he is a true hero not only for Pakistan but humanity as a whole

Abdul Sattar Edhi

 

[RazPaK]

Junaid Shamshed

He wrote the song Dil Dil Pakistan. Dil Dil Pakistan became popular after its release giving it the status of a Pop Anthem or Second National Anthem of Pakistan.
In the 2003, BBC World Service international poll of the ten most famous songs of all time, Dil Dil Pakistan was third.

 

[Leader]

Prof Ahmad Hasan Dani.

Professor Ahmad Hasan Dani (20 June 1920 – 26 January 2009), was a Pakistani intellectual, archaeologist, historian, and linguist. He was among the foremost authorities on Central Asian and South Asian archaeology and history.[1] He introduced archaeology as a discipline in higher education in Pakistan and Bangladesh.[2] Throughout his career, Dani held various academic positions and international fellowships, apart from conducting archaeological excavations and research. He is particularly known for archaeological work on pre-Indus Civilization and Gandhara sites in Northern Pakistan. He was also the recipient of various civil awards in Pakistan and abroad. As a prolific linguist, he was able to speak 35 local and international languages and dialects.

 

[Leader]

Mumtaz Mufti

Mumtaz Mufti was born in Batala, Punjab, (now in India). He was a son of Mufti Muhammad Hussain and his first wife Sughra Khannum. He became a civil servant under British rule and started career as a school teacher. Soon after partition, he migrated to Pakistan with his family.

Mumtaz Mufti started writing Urdu short stories while working as a school teacher before partition. In the beginning of his literary career, he was considered a non-conformist writer having liberal views, who appeared influenced by Freud. His transformation from Liberalism to Sufism was due to his inspiration from Qudrat Ullah Shahab. All the same, he did manage to retain his individual accent and wrote on subjects which were frowned upon by the conservative elements in society.
The two phases of his life are witnessed by his autobiographies, Ali Pur Ka Aeeli and Alakh Nagri. According to forewords mentioned in his later autobiography, Ali Pur Ka Aeeli is an account of a lover who challenged the social taboos of his times, and Alakh Nagri is an account of an acolyte who greatly influenced by the mysticism of Qudrat Ullah Shahab.

 

[Leader]

Bano Qudsia

Bano Qudsia (born 192 is a writer, intellectual, playwright and spiritualist from Pakistan who wrote Urdu novels and short stories.She is best known for her novel Raja Gidhand has written for television and stage in both the Urdu and Punjabi languages.

Qudsia moved with her family to Lahore during the Partition of India. Her father, a landlord with a Bachelor's degree in agriculture, died when she was young. She attended school in Dharamsala in eastern India before moving to Lahore. Her mother, Mrs. Chattah, was an educator. She married novelist Ashfaq Ahmed.

 

[Omar1984]

Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, The Founder of Pakistan

 

[Omar1984]

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (October 13, 1948 – August 16, 1997) a world-renowned Pakistani musician, was primarily a singer of Qawwali, the devotional music of the Sufis (a mystical tradition within Islam). Considered one of the greatest singers ever recorded, he possessed a six-octave vocal range and could perform at a high level of intensity for several hours.

 

[Dance]

Mian Muhammad Mansha

Born: 1 December 1947

A prominent Pakistani industrialist and landowner who is officially the richest man in the country and is the first Pakistani to be featured on the Forbes list of billionaires.