Ashraf Hashmi remembered

The services of noted journalist Ashraf Hashmi (1938 -2007) was recalled at a memorial meeting held at the auditorium of Pakistan Academy of Letters here on Tuesday. The largely attended memorial meeting was arranged by literary organisation Daira.
Muslim League Secretary General Mushahid Hussain Sayed presided over the meeting in which a number of his friends remembered the deceased as a fearless journalist who had brought credit to the profession.
Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed who was the editor of Muslim newspaper where Ashraf Hashmi worked as the chief reporter, said he was deeply impressed with his political reportage which created deep impact on the society, and said he was equally good at economic reporting in which he excelled.
There was all around admiration at his achievements because he started out as a journalist writing in Urdu but soon switched to English reporting and later to electronic journalism. He excelled in all three branches of journalistic work His son, Shamoun, and his wife Riffat Hashmi testified to his triumph in living a simple life yet he never broke down in adversity.
Kishwar Naheed, Absar Alam, Agha Nasir, Afzal Khan, Ahmad Hasan Alvi, Ashfaque Gondal, Muzaffar Abbas, Dr Ghazanfar Mehdi, Iftkhar Arif, Tauseeq Haidar also spoke. Muzaffar Abbas said he had to come from Karachi and Ashraf Hashmi helped him with contacts to guide him in understanding how the government worked.
Ahmad Hasan Alvi said he had been with Ashraf Hashmi for nearly 30 years and admired him for nearly gatecrashing the office of bureaucrats. 'He would never ask for appointment and said they owed him the time because he was reporting for people's benefit He would not even spare Zulfikar Ali Bhutto the prime minister, when he sensed something going wrong.
Senior journalist Afzal Khan remembered the first press conference held by General Ziaul Haq, where Ashraf Hashmi commented that although the General was declaring that he would hold elections in 90 days he had never seen a ruler in a Muslim country leave office of his own free will.
A number of references were made to Ashraf Hashmi's newspaper work in the Muslim as well as his career as the editor of Pakistan Times. His colleague also remembered him for his kind treatment of his juniors and colleagues.
Iftikhar Arif described him as a man of commitment to his profession. Tauseeq Haidar reverted to his love for reading. Kishwar Naheed spoke about the powerful impact of his political columns in Urdu.
Agha Nasir owed his debt to Ashraf Hashmi for the way he had helped him in organising Election 1977 programme over the PTV. Ghazafar Mehdi said Ashraf Hashmi could be credited with many developments we now saw in and around the capital city.
A set of books was donated to Rubaba Shuja, Principal of a local degree college at Islamabad. Mrs Hashmi told her that Hashmi loved books and the donation is to keep his memory alive.