THE nation honoured the memory of Nazia Hassan on her birthday. Most TV channels and programmes played her evergreen songs that made her a music legend.

I want to share a personal experience I had with her and her brother Zohaib. Nazia and Zohaib, who were both unknown to me at the time, approached me to support them in setting up a non-profit organization to fight narcotics and addiction.

As a lawyer, my help in the establishment of non-profits on a pro bono basis was well-known. I recall the duo telling me during a visit to my office that they had also turned to Gen Aslam Beg for help in this matter. My advice was that a society be registered under the Societies Registration Act as I had earlier done for the Lahore University of Management Sciences and Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital in Lahore. Nazia and Zohaib readily agreed and I developed the foundational vision and documentation of the society which was called Battle Against Narcotics.

As we pay tribute to her momentous but brief life, let us also acknowledge her little known commitment to the fight drug addiction.

Dr Parvez Hassan
Lahore

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2019