Split across four different sittings, the twentieth session of the program ‘The Living Scripts’ was held with Former Federal Secretary Kh Zaheer Ahmed on March 5, 12, 19 and 26, 2021.
The speaker shared some memorable events from his personal and professional life with the audience.
Shedding light on his childhood, the speaker said that he was born in Sialkot and got his early education from a local madrassa in the same city and later went to Anjuman Islamia School. Then he acquired his LLB degree before completing his Masters in Economics from the University of Lahore.
Speaking of his working experiences, the speaker apprised that he started his career as a teacher from the University of Lahore. Then he joined his Civil Services in late 60s in what turned out to be the last batch of the United Pakistan.
Opening up about his career as a civil servant, he said that his first important task was to resettle the displaced people of 1971 war in Sialkot.
Pointing out at the highlight of his civil services tenure, Zaheer said that in 1975 he was assigned to work on the beautification of Murree by the then Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto ahead of President Afghanistan Mohammed Daoud Khan’s visit to Pakistan. His performance garnered a lot of praise from the Pakistani Prime Minister.
The speaker also shared the stories of the political rivalry between Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and General Zia ul Haq, which he happened to witness very closely. He recalled his days as DC Islamabad from during the general elections of 1977 and termed them very challenging.
Zaheer later went to England to pursue his Master’s degree in development economics, and came back to Pakistan after two years and continued his services for the country.
Speaking of his services as an ambassador of Pakistan in Bangkok, the speaker said that he arranged President Zia’s visit to Bangkok in 1984. The visit was a very successful one and provided Pakistan with a chance to boost its economic ties with the country.
Zaheer shared some other insights as well about the Country’s historical events such as the referendum of 1985, attack on Supreme Court by workers of a political party, and nuclear tests done by Pakistan in 1998, all of which he has a chance to witness first hand.
