To make our lives meaningful, we always look at many people like our mentors and draw inspiration. For me, it was my father who I found in him a source of inspiration. Late Mr. Riaz Ul Hasan!
His determination, a great level of consistency towards his job and honesty to fulfill his responsibilities, inspired me to be just like him. He was an exceptional personality full of life, colossus human being, caring husband, devoted father, passionate worker and above all, a humble Muslim and patriotic Pakistani.
Unfortunately, his childhood was not so ideal as it should have been. Just at the age of five, he endured misery and a great struggle to survive, when he started the migration by foot at the time of Independence from Indian Punjab, in the hope to reunite with his father who was already posted in Karachi.
During this heart throbbing journey, he witnessed his mother being martyred, witnessed one of his sisters being kidnapped, losing a toddler among his brothers during the journey, and accidentally got separated from the rest of his family, eventually ended himself all alone in a Mohajir Camp in Qasoor. It was a never-ending misery that, when he woke up one morning sleeping under a tree in the jungle, he could not open his left eye and consequently lost his left eye for lifetime. From the Mohajir Camp, one of the couples

who did not have any kids at that time adopted him and started to take care of him. After about six months, his father Mr. Nazr Ul Hasan (my grandfather) found his name in the newspaper and immediately traveled to Qasoor to bring him back.
My father possessed an incredible sense of humor leaving everyone guessing about the pain of hardships behind his smiling face, as all his life, he bravely conquered all the hurdles and challenges that came through his way. He spent 4 years of his education at Hasan Abdal Cadet College, that helped him to have a solid foundation for his successful career ahead. After graduation, he started with a remarkable career in Sales & Marketing in Zulfiqar Industries Limited (ZIL), makers of Capri Soap product.
In the later part of his career began in 1977, my uncle, late Mr. Najm ul Hasan welcomed him in his team as a chief Editor for his newly launched magazine ‘Engineering Review’, first of its kind (like a MEED Magazine of that period). My father remained associated with this esteemed organization for almost 37 years and earned a lot of respect, gratitude from engineering fraternity including all Pakistani engineering councils and associations, associations of consultants, engineering universities, etc.
Being an upright journalist, he dared to write the truth and facts related to construction and engineering activities in Pakistan and never compromised in exposing reality.
He was a true and loyal Pakistani and devoted all his life to the betterment of the country. He was from the generation that has sacrificed their loved ones for independence. To enlighten the importance of independence amongst the next generation, he with his other brothers one time invited all family members on the occasion of Golden Jubilee of Pakistan’s Independence Day Celebrations, to share their stories of struggle and hardships. Further, talking about his understanding of Islam, he once attempted to do the Urdu to English Translation of Quran Tafseer, but somehow was not able to complete it.
He proved to be the wonderful companion of my mother and both had spent over four decades of a happy relationship together before my mother passed away in 2016. He used to call my mother ‘Aali Jaa’, the most adorable way to respect your partner.
Talking about his life as a father, my elder brother at the age of two, his hearing adversely affected due to high fever, leaving my elder brother short of listening and speaking. This was a challenging time for my father and mother, but even at those tough times, he never gave up and did everything he could do to regain my brother’s hearing and speaking.
In 1979, he even left Karachi and shifted to Islamabad for five years, where he started treatment of Acupuncture from the first Pakistani Acupuncture doctor available in Rawalpindi. This was the toughest time for my parents, leaving behind everything including work and fighting for the recovery of their child.
It was their untiring efforts that my elder brother Fahad Ali Hasan is successfully living an independent life without relying on others.
My father was very frank and open to all of us and for me, he was more like a friend. Today where I am now, would not have been possible without my father’s contribution, support and wisdom. We all owe him a lot of prayers in return and I am truly going to miss him. May Allah bless his soul in peace.

My interaction with late Riaz ul Hassan spans almost 35 years. There are reasons for this long relationship. You don’t interact with someone that long without having a desire which in this case stems from many personal attributes of Riaz sahib. – the most important ones being his sincerity, love for professionalism, positive outlook, intense love for Pakistan, love for Allama Iqbal, love for Urdu, etc.
In his own capacity, Riaz sahib was a highly professional and independent journalist. He would write what he wanted to write or was certain of its truth and usefulness for engineering fraternity at large as well as the policymakers and official administrators. He wouldn’t hesitate in bringing to light subjects and issues that may be disliked by powers that be and could create repercussions for himself or his newspaper. This is easier said than done, particularly in our society, and requires strong personal courage.
Over 35 years I have had innumerable meetings with Riaz sahib and we discussed many subjects of mutual interest such as engineering education, consultancy, project management, the role of Pakistan Engineering Council, local engineering industry, etc. I was always surprised at the sharpness of his memory that though he never took any notes (and of course no audio recording) he reproduced our discussions in the shape of articles/reports in Engineering Review without any loss or distortion of the subject matter. His captivating questions provided more room for discussions. As its Chief Editor for 40 years, Riaz sahib had deep insight on all the subjects that were and are being covered in Engineering Review.
To own or manage a publishing house is not an easy task. The two brothers–Najum ul Hassan and Riaz ul Hassan–must have had a difficult time to start and nurture Engineering Review to its present status. It was their love, affection, and respect for each other that must have played a pivotal role in lessening the burdens of the painstaking struggle.
May Allah SWT bless both of them and grant them high place in Jannah – Aameen.n

It was somewhere in the late 1980s, two professionals sitting face to face in their fairly spacious offices were deeply engaged in a debate on if Pakistan’s citizens were being treated fairly. The onlooker who did not have any idea of the relationship they had with each other was surely bound to be impressed by the quality of debate they were in.
This quality reflected in their lives and the work which led them to introduce Engineering Review as the most credible and quality engineering paper in Pakistan.
Najam-ul-Hassan and Riaz-ul-Hassan, of them the latter left us all in March less than eight years after the former, were brothers the fact which was yet to unveil later but one thing was crystal clear that they were men of letters.
Despite human’s individual capacities and traits in their overall psychological profile, a large portion of analysis for one is bound to mention the other. Maybe the lives that they loved were so intertwined that they cannot be separated from each other.
Riaz-ul-Hassan’s demise brought such shared life to an end on March 21, 2020—the last man who bolstered moral grounds in professional life and also the commitment that a true human should posses to his country.
Riaz-ul-Hassan’s worth can be categorized into two parts. One that he had it in his family which has attempted to share with our readers in this issue and, two that Engineering Review that witnessed over the last four decades.
He was a genuine professional journalist and knew what to write and when. He never missed what his country needed the most—the development of the engineering industry. He had a dream of Pakistan ensuring to manufacture everything at home. He never quit his dream. His dream made him a dear one for many serious souls in Pakistan who used to lead many reputable organizations in the country.
Being the editor of a leading engineering paper in Pakistan he lived a highly simple life and his conduct never bothered anyone.
Riaz Sahib being a migrant Punjabi by his ethnicity had a great command over English and Urdu language and his stories proved his ability time and again.
What surprised many was his strong memory; he was used to not taking notes while doing a story or an interview. Never until his memory was hit by diabetes at later stages he ever missed any point in his write-ups.
Riaz Sahib was a role model, one among many who did not get attention because of his class and simplicity. He always wore shalwar kameez no matter he would attend huge conferences and moots, where attire, in a so-called Pakistani cosmopolitan culture had given weight.
In his office, he was a man who knew how to love his staff and when to be a professional editor. He was a man of humor which he did not separate from his personality till the last moment he sighed.