LAHORE: Former principal of the National College of Arts (NCA) and later of the Pakistan School of Fashion Design Abbasi Abidi passed away here on Monday. She was 88.

According to her close circles, she passed away at her Cavalry Ground residence early on Monday mainly because of old age and diabetes.

She was laid to rest in the Cavalry Ground graveyard.

Qul will be held on Wednesday (tomorrow) at Nishat Colony Imambargha between Zuhr and Asr.

According to the NCA record, she joined the college on Sept 7, 1959, as professor of the design department and remained principal from 1984 to 1990.

Her student and former NCA principal Salima Hashmi said Ms Abidi belonged to the original NCA team.

“She used to teach us design and her specialisation from aboard was in textile design,” she said.

Ms Abidi faced difficult times during the Zia regime but she protected the academic freedom of the NCA and also protected the campus from violent politics. She played a pivotal role in establishing the Pakistan School of Fashion Design.

Former NCA principal Nazish Attaullah said after her retirement from the NCA as principal, Ms Abidi was invited by the Ministry of Commerce to set up the Pakistan School of Fashion Design which is now called Pakistan Institute of Fashion Design. She said Ms Abidi bravely fought against the Zia regime.

Pakistan Institute of Fashion Design Vice Chancellor Hina Tayyba said Ms Abidi was her mentor.

“It’s a big loss,” she said. She said besides being a refined educationist, Ms Abidi was also a good human being. She used to arrange marriages of poor women.

“She guided me a lot when I became the principal of Pakistan Institute of Fashion Design,” added she.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2018