Journalists, showbiz fraternity pay tribute to Imran Aslam

KARACHI: A befitting tribute was paid to the late president of Geo and Jang Group Imran Aslam on Wednesday, January 4, which also happens to be his birthday, at the Arts Council of Pakistan with a large number of veteran journalists and artistes gracing the occasion.

Imran, who was also known as Tipu among his close friends, passed away on December 2 last year. A man of extraordinary talents and wit, he worked as a journalist, scriptwriter and actor, and left a profound impression on those he worked with. This was evident from the remarks made by his family members, friends and colleagues who gathered to remember him collectively and reminisce about the life of their friend, mentor and colleague.

Hameed Haroon, chief executive officer of the Dawn Media Group, said he had first met Imran in the UK—one Thursday in the 1970s when Imran aka Tipu was attending a college in London and looking forward to transferring to the London School of Economics (LSE).

“It is quite obvious that Tipu was no ordinary person. Remember a transfer from South London College to the London School of Economics is not a walkover,” Haroon stressed. He recalled how Imran Aslam acted in various plays in London directed by him in the LSE drama festival. “Tipu was very much in love with experimental theatre,” he shared, adding that he had already worked on theatre in Lahore before moving to London.

Haroon said, “Specifically, there were two scars on Tipu’s life: one was the loss of Dhaka in his life and the second one was I think his mother’s passing away. These were two things that influenced him very deeply.”

About the production ‘Love Letters’ by AR Gurney, Haroon said, “Love Letters wasn’t a one-day experience; it was a 20 years’ experience. Rehana Saigol, Fareshteh, Tipu, myself and Farrukh were together a mutual admiration society. We first launched Love Letters in [the] early mid-1990s. We did the first production in Karachi. Ten years later, we decided to do Love Letters again. We raised seven crores for 10 charities in 2005.”

About Imran, Haroon said: “We are talking about somebody who was so alive that it is difficult to believe he is not living among us, although he is not dead for us.” A friend from Lahore days, veteran actor Usman Peerzada, said it was difficult for him to talk about Imran Aslam as a journalist, an actor or even a human and on his soul’s intellectualism.

Prominent banker and Imran Aslam’s family friend Rayomond Kotwal said the late journalist was intensely serious and passionate and always helpful. Kotwal recalled how he disliked going to weddings generally, but if he knew Imran and his wife Fareshteh Aslam Gati would be there, he would go and save a place for them.

He shared how the couple were always invited for all the parties in his house. “They always made the time. Both of them loved coming and we loved having them,” he said. “It’s going to be strange for a while for my next parties.”

Columnist Nadeem Farooq Paracha was just 19 years old when he met Imran Aslam in March 1986. “I was a troubled, chaotic, wild man. Just a few days after I met him, I started treating him like a mentor,” he said, adding that when in 1993, Imran became the editor of The News, he [Paracha] joined the newspaper as a feature writer on his call.

“We started a column called Coffee House. The first story on his idea was about the treatment women face in shrines of the city,” Paracha said, adding that Imran Aslam gave him a burqa, asking him to wear that and experience what actually happened and then write the column.

Paracha did that and finished the column the very day, but it was somehow stopped by the management. “The column will go as it is, without a change of a full stop,” Paracha remembered Imran’s response.

Journalist Shahzeb Jillani said that generally in our society missiles are launched, but Imran Aslam was one who launched the careers of not only journalists but actors as well. Senior journalist Mazhar Abbas recalled how he was part of daily newspaper The Star when Imran Aslam came to the newsroom for the first time and there was tension as no one knew him before. He remembered how Imran changed the culture of newspapers. He said that when once, probably due to the threat of flooding, Sea View citizens were evacuated, Imran came up with the headline ‘Defence on the Run’. Abbas said Imran started his journalistic career late but as he entered the field, he changed the overall culture of journalism.

CEO Geo Mir Ibrahim Rahman, in his recorded message, said Imran Aslam was a mentor to him. Explaining how he had grown up in the newsroom, and after attending school had often found his way to his father’s room and then down the hallways exploring from floor to floor and desk to desk, Mir Ibrahim recalled that the editor—Imran Aslam’s—door was always open, as was his heart.

“Always answering my questions and encouraging them with patience and a smile. His help started early. He helped me in school projects [and also helped] devise a campaign to win over a girl I liked—she is now my wife—helped me edit my college application, he helped us launch GEO, and more importantly enjoy the struggle afterwards,” he said.

He said that Imran Aslam was always there for everyone with his gentle, creative and hopeful disposition. “Any serious somber moment was a joke away, every epiphany could be broken by comic genius. His relations were equally strong with the news world as with entertainment, from reporters to actors. He was close to people who were from this side of the bridge and the other, from Urdu to English, sports to business. Religious script came easy to him as did classical literature, Sufi interpretive thought and the comic book. None were discriminated; I found him to represent all,” he said.

The event was moderated by Imran Aslam’s friend and journalist Beena Sarwar. Besides family members, some of the more notable among those who participated at the event included poet Zehra Nigah, composer Arshad Mahmud, rights activist Zohra Yusuf, journalist Ghazi Salahuddin, Arts Council President Ahmed Shah, fashion designer Frieha Altaf and Joy of Urdu’s Zarminae Ansari.