Pakistan has lost a patriot and an entrepreneur who made a mark in the oil & gas landscape as a founding director of the first private sector Oil Marketing Company. A professional who played a pivotal role in the accounting profession as the leading partner of a chartered accountant firm. A businessman who has left a legacy of establishing green field projects which have created employment for thousands of Pakistanis.
Asif Ahmad Mian passed away on July 6, 2021. He is remembered by his loving wife, children, grandchildren and all his friends and colleagues. He was an inspiration for all the people who knew and worked with him.
Asif Ahmad Mian was born in Deoband, district Saharanpur, UP, British India, to a religious family. The family played a vital role in the establishment of Dar-ul-Uloom, Deoband. His family was very active in the fight against British imperialism, where one of his family members was exiled to Malta for the role in the Silk Letter Movement. This passion for justice, equality, and anti-imperialism is one that he carried his whole life. Mian was a zealous supporter of Pakistan; he took with him many stories, including a detailed account of writing “Mohallah Pakistan” at only ten years old with bitumen on the entrance walls of his ancestral Haveli. Mian and his family were in the great migration of 1947, and like many others, they lost their home and had to start from scratch in a newly founded Pakistan.
Mian was immensely hard-working and always highly focused. After completing his B.Com and M.A (Economics) from the University of Karachi, he worked as the youngest Regional Manager at a leading Bank in Pakistan. He later went to England to complete his lifelong dream of becoming a Chartered Accountant. As an ardent Muslim, Mr. Mian declined an offer to become a partner in the UK, as he wanted to raise his children in a Muslim society. The family moved to Libya, and he accepted the Chief Auditor position in the Accountant General Office in Libya. He conducted audits of Oil giants like Esso, Agip. He left Libya when the Head of the Board of Auditors, Mohammed Yousef Al Magariaf, a fellow chartered accountant, was exiled for standing up against the corrupt regime. Later, Magariaf became the President of Libya after the fall of the Gaddafi regime.
Upon return to Pakistan, Mian joined Attock Oil Refinery and served the organization until his superannuation age. He was known for his strong integrity, which never faltered. Mian was soft-spoken and was equally loved by his colleagues and bosses. He had a flair for entrepreneurship, had many business ideas, and established a start-up in Hattar Industrial Estate. After retiring from Attock Refinery Limited, Mian became active in the Institute of Chartered Accountancy of Pakistan. He joined as a senior partner a chartered accountancy firm Alliott Shahid Hadi & Co., based in the Middle East and Pakistan. Mian did not stop there and co-founded Admore Private Limited, the first oil & marketing company in the private sector. Within few years, the organization became one of the leading players in the industry and was later acquired by Puma Energy, a multi-national company looking to establish its strong footprint in Pakistan.
His contributions are significant, having served the Oil & Gas sector for the past 3.5 decades. He was currently serving as the Chairman and Chief Executive of Kepler Group of Companies involved in the Oil and Gas downstream sector in Pakistan and UAE until he passed away. He will always be remembered for his kindness, patience, and commitment.
May ALLAH (SWT) grant him the highest place in Jannat-ul-Firdous.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021