THIS is with reference to the letter, ‘The tragedy of Hyderabad’ by former Senator Javed Jabbar (Sept 17). He has given a brief account of the contributions made by Mir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh and last Nizam of Hyderabad, to the uplift and welfare of the people of his state and, besides his financial aid to what then was the newly created Muslim state of Pakistan.

One of his outstanding achievements was the establishment of Osmania University, where the medium of instructions was Urdu. It produced outstanding scholars and professionals. One such person was A. A. Jamaluddin, who taught us structures at degree level in the University of Technology, Lahore, in the sixties.

He was Dean of Engineering and was soft spoken. He had full command over his subject. Later he became chief engineer of the Punjab Highways Department. When Chief Minister Ghulam Mustafa Khar suspended some executive engineers of G. T. Road from Lahore to Rawalpindi, he protested. This was not expected in those days. So he stepped down, established his own construction company and executed some major projects. He died recently in Karachi at 99.

Javed Ahmad Malik
Lahore

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2019