Gone but not forgotten

I knew him little but admired him much; in fact, I was over-awed by the brilliance and humanity of Imran Aslam. Both came out abundantly in my only meaningful personal interactions with Imran Aslam in the negotiations and final structuring of the Imran Khan Foundation and the Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman Foundation (MKRF) collaboration, ‘Pukar’, for the relief efforts following the 2010 floods in Pakistan, a devastation unprecedented at that time but not of the staggering magnitude of the floods in Pakistan in 2022. As a founding director of the Imran Khan Foundation and its honorary legal advisor, I helped Imran Khan and some other directors of IKF in discussions on September 24, 2010 at Lahore with the MKRF/Geo team, which included Imran Aslam, to establish the format and governance of the proposed joint venture. The negotiations continued on October 2, 2010 with Imran Aslam leading on behalf of MKRF. Spread over several hours and a meal at Bani Gala, the negotiations ended with the most effective national organization that delivered flood relief and rehabilitation to the areas struck by the calamity in 2010.

I found Imran Aslam well prepared with his brief; he was articulate in his presentations but also receptive to suggestions made by me, which mostly facilitated efficient decision-making and ensured over-all accountability. I think we walked away from the two meetings with respect for each other’s professionalism. I also had the pleasure to watch Imran Aslam’s inimitable performance with Rehana Saigol in Gurney’s Love Letters in Lahore, which showed his charismatic versatility, erudite diction, and a towering stage presence, par excellence. Imran Aslam is no more and I will live with the regret that I could but did not reach out to know him better and to share in a more durable manner the lustre and glow of this man for all seasons. I pray his goodness helps his soul rest in peace.

Dr Parvez Hassan, Lahore

(Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of Pakistan)