This picture was taken at 3:30 PM on February 3, 2025, while I was driving on the M1 motorway towards Peshawar, where a human-ignited fire was raging. It seemed as if the lesson of poor air quality in our cities was being ignored, and the poison we breathe would ultimately lead to painful deaths due to respiratory ailments.
The second picture was taken at Bar B Que Tonight in Islamabad on the same day at 9:30 PM, where my former colleague from Dawn was present to coordinate the choice of cuisine for the delegates of the conference on the vital subject of climate change and its serious ramifications for human health.
My former organization, the Dawn Media Group, is a trailblazer in many respects and aspects. Whether it was events that its dynamic CEO, Hameed Haroon, kick-started – such as “Karachi under the Raj,” which showcased many landmark marvels of the British era – the success of the event emboldened Dawn to diversify into events that I once humbly managed. I don’t know how good I was at events, but my background as a banker, salesman, and marketer, and later as a self-trained creative writer, has been enough qualification for a self-made person who didn’t prefer to raise himself from rags to riches, but rather vice versa, leaving behind a legacy of integrity and honesty to the point of foolishness.
I wish every success to Dawn and all my fellow green activists, both in Pakistan and abroad, particularly those from the UN platform, who continue to help humans breathe, at least, if they are otherwise socially, politically, and financially suffocated. I give credit to Dawn for always being ahead of time in combating social issues, and climate change cannot be an exception.
May I humbly remind the brave and bold Nawabzada Tariq Khan of the ridicule that the famous interview of Hameed Haroon with Stephen Sackur of BBC Hard Talk fame received back home, when he tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to point out the undue incursion of the deep state into the sphere of freedom of expression.
Time proved many wrong and him right, though he may not always be right; yet, mostly, his vision helped the ship of Dawn weather the change during many storms and continue to navigate through change under his niece, the young and bright Honourable Naz Afreen Saigol, who, in the corporate world, is the Margaret Thatcher of media management – a feat that is no child’s play.