Dr Haroon Ahmed paid rich tribute for his services for mental health in Pakistan

The Pakistan Association for Mental Health paid glowing tribute to Dr Haroon Ahmed on Sunday for his services for mental health in the country.

At a seminar titled ‘Make Mental Health and Wellbeing for All a Global Priority’ on Sunday afternoon at the Arts Council of Pakistan, Dr Ahmed, who is an expert psychiatrist, was given a lifetime achievement award.

The association’s acting president, Dr S Ali Wasif, said at the event that at the time of partition there were asylums for mentally challenged people and there was a prejudice against Hindus and Muslims on both sides of the border. From India mentally challenged Muslims were sent to Pakistan, whereas, from Pakistan mentally challenged Hindus were sent to India, he added.

In 1947, he said, there was only one psychiatrist in the private sector, but in 1955, a small group of psychiatrists started working formally on mental health in Pakistan.

The agenda of the Pakistan Association for Mental Health, he said, was to promote mental health without any prejudice. “They want to give treatment with respect,” he added.

Speaking on Dr Ahmed, Dr Syed Tariq Sohail said he knew the veteran psychiatrist since long. When Dr Sohail came back from London after completing education, Dr Ahmed was the first person he met.

He said his friendship with Dr Ahmed saw some highs and lows but they remained good friends. “Dr Haroon’s love, compassion towards his friends and patients is remarkable,” he said, adding that he was a person full of empathy.

Explaining that empathy was something different from sympathy, the speaker said Dr Ahmed would treat the miseries of his patients considering them of his own. “A very few people have empathy of this sort,” Dr Sohail remarked.

Dr Abdullah Mangi stated that Dr Ahmed was one of his kind. He said that Dr Ahmed and Dr Adib Rizvi were two people, after meeting whom one fell in love with life.

Dr Muzafar Hussain termed Dr Ahmed the godfather of psychiatry in Pakistan. He said the veteran psychiatrist was born in 1931 in a small town near Lucknow and the hospitality he offered was the legacy of the place where he was born.

The event was told that Dr Ahmed’s father used to work in railways and his mother instrumental in inculcating in him various virtues. He was the youngest of his siblings.

Dr Ahmed had completed his intermediate when the Partition happened. During his fourth year of medical degree, Dr Hussain said Dr Ahmed was wrongly diagnosed with a disease and told that he had little time left.

Arts Council President Ahmed Shah said they were celebrating a great personality of the country who had influenced at least three generations.

Art critic Niilofer Farrukh said her connection with Dr Ahmed was indirect. She added that the veteran psychiatrist had a keen interest in art and he always supported artists. As artists are very sensitive, they take the society’s pain to heart and then they portray their art through that, she said.

Dr Ahmed, she remarked, had contributed greatly towards the art community. She thanked him for making sure that the artist community remained healthy.