Zubair Qureshi
Former Chairman of the Nazriya Pakistan Council (NPC) and well-known educationist, philanthropist and Chairman of the Sultana Foundation, Dr Naeem Ghani passed away on Wednesday. He was 86.
Dr Naeem Ghani is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters. His funeral prayers were held at the H-8 Graveyard the same day and participated by a large number of friends, family members, colleagues and staff of the NPC as well as the Sultana Foundation.
Dr Naeem Ghani was the second Chairman of the NPC after its Founder Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Pakistan Observer Zahid Malik (late) one year before his death requested Dr Ghani to take charge of the council in 2015.
Later, time proved that Mr Malik’s choice was right as Dr Naeem Ghani very ably carried forward his mission and kept the NPC alive and vigilant on matters of national importance particularly, with regard to inculcating spirit of patriotism in the youth and promoting the Ideology of Pakistan in society.
According to Mrs Siddiqua Naeem Ghani, Dr Ghani was admitted at the PAF Hospital for the last four days on complaint of pneumonia. However, his health condition deteriorated on Wednesday and he died of cardiac arrest.
She said Dr Naeem Ghani worked tirelessly all his life and his work in education, women empowerment, charity and philanthropy is recognized nationally as well as internationally.
Dr Naeem Ghani did his MBBS from the King Edward Medical College (KEMC) Lahore with distinction and his fame as one of the top surgeons of Pakistan took him to Royal family of Saudi Arabia and that turned out to be a new chapter in his life.
Back home, Dr Ghani founded Sultana Foundation to support women and children and his prime focus was to provide skilled education (vocational education) so that they could find respectable source of income in after passing out.
Though I was MA English and worked briefly but after marriage my sole concern was to support and look after my husband, said Mrs Naeem Ghani.
While talking to Pakistan Observer, Chairman of the NPC Mian Muhammad Javed termed Dr Naeem Ghani’s death a great loss. He was a dedicated man who believed in Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s vision of a progressive, peaceful and prosperous Pakistan. Dr Naeem, said Mian Javed, was an incarnation of Quaid’s saying: Work, work and more work and he believed that only by upholding Ideology of Pakistan can we realize the Quaid’s dream.
Executive Secretary of NPC and Executive Editor of Pakistan Observer, Gauhar Zahid Malik also paid rich tributes to Dr Naeem Ghani and his achievements and prayed that Almighty Allah may bless his soul and grant him a lofty place in Jannah. He also prayed for peace and strength of his family to bear the irreparable loss.
According to Dr Ghani’s family, Dua-e-Maghfarat for Dr Naeem Ghani’s soul will be held at his residence H. 19, St 31, F-7/1 opposite King Faisal Market between Asar and Maghrib prayer on Thursday (today).
