Pakistan will never forget you

Pakistan will never forget you:?A mother meets her son in 30 months;

For Pakistan, AK was the Father of Technology - (ak - altamash kamal) brought satellite to Pakistan; started the first online newspaper dawn.com and launched the first ecommerce site desistore. His mother was hailed as the grandmother of midwifery and an icon of motherhood.

He wanted to have young blood lead the world with technology and she worked towards creating a healthy family network with smiling children and healthy mothers

Between the months of February 2020 to August 2022, her health deteriorated after her son died. She left her home in Pakistan to be with her daughter in USA, it became her final resting place and she was reunited with her beloved son in the hereafter.?

I am writing these words as I feel Pakistan is made by people who have loved Pakistanis (residents) and have spent their lives striving for their care and building a name for the nation. Two great leaders I know personally as they have mentored me among hundreds others, when I needed it the most are Dr Imtiaz Kamal and Dr Altamash Kamal. This combination of a loving mother and a caring son will remain in our hearts forever even after they are no more as they have cultivated a culture of love in society–a scientist who loved photography and a doctor who brought babies into the world.

Within the span of a few months these two great paragons left this world. One had a passion to revolutionize the IT paradigm and bring people closer–the other wanted every mother to have healthy children, have the privilege of healthy birth and do what was best for a mother and her child. In trying to achieve this, she gave her life for midwifery upliftment in Pakistan.

Son - Dr Altamash Kamal - left us in Feb 2020.

Dr Altamash Kamal was an MIT PhD, a nuclear scientist and a satellite pioneer in Pakistan. A man of principles, a patriot, he bought dawn.com as a domain for Haroon House and made it a global www celebrity. He helped elevate every project he tackled and mentored and nurtured the people who worked with him. He is recognized as an e-commerce pioneer in Pakistan- desistore.com, and the founder of many startups including Xibercom, Wavetech, Spider Magazine, desichat. His words had meaning and his touch had barakat - he handpicked some exceptional talent and made them leaders - Azeem Pirani , Adnan Masood, PhD. , Bina Shah , Rabia Garib , Shakir Husain , Almas Kamardin , Habib Naqvi, Hafidh Jamaluddin , Zunaira Durrani Qureshi and many many others.

DesiStore was an ecommerce startup for Pakistan where items from religious Ramadan/Eid products to books of Sherbaz Khan Mazari - I remember one as "Who Killed Zia",? wedding products like Mehendi to sports items like a bat/ball were sold in North America. Keeping inventory as warehousing in America was an idea explored by the genius in 1999. Whatever you pick from his life is a testament to his brilliance and vision.

Mother - Dr Imtiaz Kamal - left us August 2022

Dr Imtiaz Kamal was a Pakistani mother, nurse, public health scientist, author and a midwife. She was Pakistan's first qualified midwife and a founder of the Family Planning Association of Pakistan. She worked in 51 countries with the World Health Organization and many other agencies. She also served as Secretary General of Pakistan's National Committee for Maternal Health and was a Founding Member of Midwifery Association of Pakistan. Kamal served as vice president of the Maternity and Child Welfare Association of Pakistan (MCWAP) and was president of MCWAP’s Sindh Chapter. She published researches on motherhood mortality in many forms and was an advocate for the training of traditional birth attendants.

As part of those who will always remember them, I can feel the pain the Kamal family must be going through. I messaged Dr Sameer Kamal, her grandson and some friends in Midwife and NCMNH – the loss is huge and words won't be able to offer condolence. This letter is a piece of condolence to all who love the Kamal Family, the Midwifery Association, NCMNH and all nurses and midwives whose lives were escalated by the Great lady. Arusa Lakhani , Rubina Rubina.Saleem , Dr Rafat Jan, Mirza Umair Baig , yasmin soomro , Ms Maliha Noor and all caring team.

I would like the future leaders studying abroad and the Pakistani young-ones to study wherever they want - but be loyal to their nation deriving inspiration from this mother and son who served the nation with their wealth, time, sweat and blood, heart and soul. The Kamal mother and son - will be remembered always. #dawn #dawndotcom #midwifery #midwife #maternalmortality #pakistan

Note: all photo credits to AK and his family.