Pakistani-Americans Urged to Help Set up a Second Cancer Hospital in Lahore
By Ras H. Siddiqui 

 

Mian M. Kashif Ashfaq, the CEO of one of Pakistan’s rapidly emerging retailers ChenOne, was in Sacramento recently where a quickly planned meeting was held in his honor at the Haveli Restaurant.

Mian Ashfaq is not only a very successful businessman, but when he is not busy promoting Pakistani textiles and his retail business, he is also a politician currently with Imran Khan’s PTI and is on the advisory board of the Cancer Care Hospital and Research Center (CCH&RC), a project which has already started and aims to build a full-fledged cancer treatment facility in Lahore. ChenOne is owned by the Chenab Group Faisalabad which is one of the largest exporters of home textiles products from Pakistan, and employs close to 14,000 people. The group's chairman Mian Muhammad Latif was awarded the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz by the former President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf. The Chenab Group is not without controversy but it is good to note that they have not decreased their involvement in social causes in the country.

In his short speech, Mian Kashif thanked the local Pakistani community for helping their country of origin in their individual and collective capacity. He also highlighted the inception and expansion of ChenOne in Pakistan and the Middle East plus its plans to expand to Europe and America. He also spoke of his family origins in Toba Tek Singh and the expansion of its business interests to Faisalabad, Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Dubai, Makkah, Riyadh and beyond. He said that ChenOne was primarily a retailer of housewares, bedding, bath and tableware, and last but not least, Pakistani-manufactured furniture which he said had a great deal more potential abroad than commonly believed.

Local Sacramento area community leader Khalid Saeed in his earlier introduction of Mian Kashif Ashfaq had said that we hear too many negative things about Pakistan but it was refreshing to see the positive side too where people are doing things to make their country and its environment better. Mian Ashfaq  Sahib exemplifies this description as he is also in politics and  himself admitted that being a politician in Pakistan makes it easy to have ones image tarnished. He added that sincere and good people also need to participate in the political process there and generate hope. He said that Imran Khan’s Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital was an outstanding achievement to be proud of, but that Lahore needed more cancer hospitals because of the high demand that one existing hospital just cannot meet. He asked the local Pakistani-American community to assist in establishing the Cancer Care Hospital and Research Center (CCH&RC).

This article is an attempt to spread more information on this project amongst the Pakistani-origin community in the United States. Please visit their website or contact them at Block 61 L Model Town, Lahore near Allama Iqbal Medical College.