Izhar Haider

Izhar Haider (Urdu: اظہار حیدر (1944 - 23 December 2009) was an Urdu poet, social worker and broadcaster who helped to transform Abu Dhabi from a small fishing village to a major city.[1][2]

Education and early career

Born in Junagadh, India to Professor Zainul Abidin Naqvi in a family of High Profile Educationists and Professors from Indian Sub-Continent studied in St Patrick's High School, Karachi and graduated from NED University of Engineering and Technology in Karachi. Later, He joined as Chief Engineer (Structural Engineering) in 1971 in Abu Dhabi Municipality, shortly before the independence of the United Arab Emirates.[1][2]

Izhar was part of the team of engineers who built Abu Dhabi. He arrived in Abu Dhabi, when the late President Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyyan was uniting the emirates into the UAE to infuse a new vision in his people and lead them to become one of the world’s most developed and rich nations.He Retired in 2004 from Abu Dhabi Municipality.

He was involved in 200 government and private building projects in Buteen. It was late Shaikh Zayed’s vision and enthusiasm which started reflecting in the city and was quite visible by mid-1972, when the civic infrastructure was built to make civic life comfortable, ultimately laying the foundation for a modern Abu Dhabi.

Broadcasting

His passions was broadcasting, a field he entered as a college student. He continued with his passion when Abu Dhabi Radio commenced its Urdu Service in 1979, which was the only means of entertainment and a source of information, when the world had not yet become a global village in the pre-internet age. He founded Shiekh Khalifa Bin Zayed Arab Pakistani School & Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Pakistan Cultural Centre — to which he was elected twice as president and thrice as general secretary — was the hub of socio-cultural activities and community bonding.

Death

Izhar Haider was planning a UAE National Day to be celebrated in Pakistan Embassy in Abu Dhabi. On 10 December 2009 he had mild pain on his chest and walked to the hospital by himself and was immediately admitted. He was still writing plan for the UAE National day celebration on hospital bed. Doctors finally decided that he must have bypass surgery. He died during a heart surgery in Abu Dhabi on 23 December 2009. The whole event was cancelled as he was lone script writer of the event. He is buried in Karachi, Pakistan. He left behind two children, a daughter Dr. Sadiqa Bano, a General Surgeon who lives in Karachi, Pakistan and a son Zulfiqar Haider an IT Business Consultant who lives in Chicago, USA.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Founder member of Khalifa panel dies". gulfnews.com. December 24, 2009. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Community mourns pioneer who gave life of service to his people". thenational.ae. December 25, 2009. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
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