ISLAMABAD: “Old soldiers never die, they just fade away,” said Nasreen Azhar, the wife of late Aslam Azhar, who was speaking at a memorial for her husband hosted by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) on Wednesday.

Aslam Azhar, a distinguished broadcaster and media personality, died on Dec 29, 2015 at the age of 83.

He was one of the founding fathers of Pakistan Television (PTV). When television came to Pakistan in 1964, he spearheaded its evolution and did not leave before converting PTV into a dynamic broadcasting institution.

Talking about her husband, Nasreen Azhar said: “I spent 51 years with him. We were husband and wife, but the stronger bond between us was of being good friends.”

She said the staff of organisations like PTV and Dastak Theatre Group were like family to her husband and her.

“People cared about him right till the end. However, it used to hurt me that he stopped meeting with people in his last years,” she said.

The couple’s eldest son, Usama Azhar, said his father was a great man, which is why so many people had gathered to pay homage to him.

“I learnt how to be a father from him and I still remember how people used to gather around him,” Usama said.

Aslam Azhar’s younger son, Arieb, said that in his last few years, his father had stopped going out and did not meet with people as much.

“He did, however, want to sit with younger people and break social taboos. When I was a child I thought my father had knowledge of everything and held answers to every question,” he said.

Arieb said his father had lived his life on his own terms.

“He never stopped speaking the truth, because of which, even Zulfikar Ali Bhutto transferred him,” he added.

Scholar and poet Ahmed Saleem also paid tribute to the PTV patriarch and said that though many mediapersons and literary figures had put themselves into self exile during the time of Gen Ziaul Haq, Aslam Azhar had stayed back and had always preferred to live in Pakistan.

“He was my teacher and would always say that my writings were good when it came to reading them but not when they were performed on stage. He taught me that even government-run media can be used for the betterment of society and can give people a voice,” he said.

Mr Saleem said the late Aslam Azhar had believed that theatre made people more active, compared to television.

“I remember that Aslam had once called Faiz Ahmed Faiz the poet of the 20th century,” he added.

Fakhar Abbas, a colleague of the Aslam Azhar from radio, talked about how Aslam was asked to leave PTV during Mr Ziaul Haq’s tenure.

“A list was made of the people who would not be allowed into PTV offices because they were seen as threats to the military regime. Mr Azhar’s name was at the top of the list,” he said.

Ziaur Rehman, a colleague from PTV, said Aslam Azhar had been a mentor to him and all those who worked at PTV.

“At a training academy in India, Mr Azhar’s plays are screened as part of lessons for actors. Big names like Naseerudin Shah, Shabana Azmi and others trained by watching plays by Aslam,” he added.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2016