Page 17 - Pakistan Link - September 25, 2020

COMMUNITY
Community Link
VOL. 30/39
PAGE 18
Gates Praises
Young Pakistani
as a Covid-19 Hero
Left: Dr Ahmad, professor and head of the department of mechanical engineering in Kashmir, was forced to leave his job and arrived in Australia in 1971. He has been at the forefront of building Islamic institutions,
founding community organizations and promoting interfaith harmony for almost half a century. Right: Dr Ahmad receives the OAM award from the Governor of NSW (standing right) in Sydney
n By Dr Aslam Abdullah
It was the winter of December
1992, the deadliest winter of
India. On the sixth day of this
unforgettable month, Hindu nation-
alists raided the 16th century Babri
Mosque in Ayodhya. They demol-
ished it brick by brick, leading to a
chain of events that forever changed
the country. That day’s events would
lead to pogroms against Muslims in
which 2,000 Indians got killed.
The American Federation of
Muslims of Indian Origin was in Delhi
for its annual Convention to recognize
India’s highest achievers in tenth and
12th grades. The education of Mus-
lims was the central theme, but the
reference of the demolished mosque
was inevitable. The first day sessions
focused on the general plight of Mus-
lims. One of the speakers gave a com-
prehensive talk on conditions leading
to the demolition of the masjid. He
broke down several times describing
the illiteracy, poverty, powerlessness,
and persecution of Muslims in inde-
pendent India. Concluding his speech,
he asked Muslim leaders and intellec-
tuals, “why did they let this happen?”
and asked their counterparts in the
Hindu community, “How long will
you continue to let this happen.” The
audience was mesmerized and speech-
less. After the speech, there was abso-
lute silence, which still rings in my ears that the tradition of recognizing com-
until this day.
The speaker was Dr Qazi Ashfaq
Ahmed, an Australian citizen of In-
PAGE 1e8gum
Dr Fauci Warns
of New Covid-19
Symptoms
Dr Qazi Ashfaq Ahmad: Australia’s
Most Honored Muslim
dian origin. A caring man, a dedicated
community leader, a humanitarian
in the real sense, a Qur’anic scholar,
a passionate patriarch of a large fam-
ily, and a compassionate intellectual,
whom Australia recognized this year
worthy of a Medal of the Order of Aus-
tralia (OAM), the highest honor given
to a civilian in the country.
Dr Qazi Ashfaq Ahmad OAM,
90, is a retired professor of mechanical
engineering. He is a Qur’anic scholar
and a long-time community leader.
The award was announced on 26 Janu-
ary earlier this year. The investiture
ceremony, delayed due to the pan-
demic, took place in September at the
Government House in Sydney under
COVID-19 restrictions.
Dr Ahmad, professor and head
of the department of mechanical en-
gineering in Kashmir, was forced to
leave his job and arrived in Australia
in 1971 and has been at the forefront
of building Islamic institutions, found- and Fair.
ing community organizations, and
promoting interfaith harmony for al-
most half a century. He is a close fam-
ily friend. His son, Zia Ahmed, runs
Australia’s most famous Muslim news-
paper, the Australian Muslim Times.
“I feel very honored but also glad
munity leaders and volunteers is alive
and well because they are the back-
bone of a cohesive society,” Dr Ahmad
Friday, September 25, 2020
PPAAGGEE 1197
Sharmeen Obaid-
Chinoy to Direct
‘Ms Marvel’
said.
“Community-based ventures
can’t survive without the passion and
dedication that volunteers bring.
“While government services are
essential, community-based delivery
of some of those services achieves a lot
more than throwing lots of money can
ever do.
“This is a value that I sought to in- efforts to establish themselves within
still in my family - that while excelling
in their profession is important, they
aren’t complete without the free time,
effort, and money they contribute for
the betterment of the community.”
Some of his most significant
achievements have been working with
like-minded people to establish the
national bodies for Muslims in Aus-
tralia and Papua New Guinea, student
organizations, interfaith groups, and
the annual Multicultural Eid Festival
The 90-year-old said he had loved
living in Australia since he arrived in
1970. “When I came to Australia to do
my PhD at the University of Sydney, I
was overwhelmed by the support and
friendship shown to me by Austra-
lians, including our original inhabit-
ants and owners of the land, those with
European ancestry and more recent
migrants,” he said.
“I knew very early that Australia
would be our new home.”
Dr Ahmad said he didn’t know
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who nominated him for an OAM.
“The person has not revealed
themselves to me, but I can still be and
am grateful for their acknowledgment
and effort for making the nomination,”
he said. “So I would like to say thank
you.
“Initially, I was perplexed, and in- (Fauzia, Sadia, and Najia). All of them
clined to withdraw. “However, the his-
tory of Muslims in Australia and their
the wider community must be better
known. Through this recognition of
my humble efforts, I feel this will help
in that objective.”
Dr Qazi Ashfaq Ahmad is a re-
tired engineer and academic by pro-
fession, having earned his degrees
at Aligarh Muslim University, India,
University of Wisconsin, USA, and
University of Sydney, Australia.
He is the founder of the Austra-
lian Federation of Islamic Councils
(AFIC), Islamic Foundation for Edu-
cation and Welfare (IFEW), Multicul-
tural Eid Festival and Fair (MEFF),
and many other community organiza-
tions and institutions.
He is a pillar of the interfaith
communities in Australia and interna-
tionally in India, Malaysia, UK, USA,
and Saudi Arabia.
Born in Eastern Uttar Pardesh, in
India on 12 December 1930, he lost his
father when he was two years old, and
four when his mother passed away.
Safar 8 , 1442 AH
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In his young age, he got involved
in India’s freedom movement. He met
and worked with Mahatma Gandhi,
Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Maulana Abul
Kalam Azad, first education minister
of India, and Dr Zakir Hussein, who
became India’s President.
Ashfaq Ahmad and his wife Ja-
mal Ara have six children, three boys
(Zia, Najm, and Manar) and three girls
were born in India before they migrat-
ed to Australia.
In 1959-60, he obtained MS in
engineering from the University of
Wisconsin and later completed his
PhD while on a University of Sydney
scholarship.
For eight years before migrating
to Australia, Professor Qazi Ashfaq
Ahmad, served as Head of the Depart-
ment of Mechanical Engineering and
acting Principal at Regional Engineer-
ing College in Srinagar, Kashmir.
Due to political interference, he
was suddenly terminated from his job
in 1969 and framed with anti-national
charges. Therefore, he left India for
Australia in 1971.
Dr Ahmad, 90, now has an ex-
tended family of over 70 people, the
majority living in Sydney, Australia,
and is a father, grandfather, and great
grandfather. (Dr Aslam Abdullah is
resident scholar at islamicity.org. He
is editor in chief of Muslim Observer
and a trustee of American Federation
of Muslims of Indian Origin. He gives
Friday sermons at Islamic centers in
California and other states)