IT was a moment of collective surprise.
Why was the Raees-e-Azam of Lahore, Quaid-e-Azam’s close companion and a key leader of the Pakistan Movement, Mian Bashir Ahmad, visiting our humble hostel?
A little inquiry revealed he had come to see a junior, Saeed Badar.
We were astonished—what was it about this soft-spoken boy that had drawn such a distinguished guest?
We, the admirers of Urdu literature, sat in awe as Mian Bashir Ahmad, scion of the illustrious Mian family of Baghbanpura, the poet of “Millat ka Pasban hai Muhammad Ali Jinnah,” quietly waited for this junior of ours on a bench instead of the principal’s office.
Saeed Badar, in our eyes, was instantly transformed into someone extraordinary.
Years later, when historian and Iqbal scholar Dr.Muhammad Ikram Chughtai narrated this incident to me, I felt a surge of pride—because Saeed Badar was my father.
It has been three years since he passed away, yet I still feel him beside me, in the silence of my thoughts and the rhythm of my daily life.
He began his career at WAPDA as editor of Khabarnama and founded the monthly Barqāb.
He was among the pioneers of the Pakistan Public Relations Society and had close ties with intellectuals like Zahid Malik.
His office at Lahore’s iconic Shah Din building was a magnet for writers, thinkers, and reformers.
In 1964, when Mian Bashir Ahmad hosted Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah at his residence Al-Manzar, my father had the honour of meeting her frequently.
He would share those sacred memories with us—the courage of Fatima Jinnah, the tyranny of Ayub Khan, and the resilience of leaders like Air Marshal Asghar Khan and Mian Manzar Bashir, with whom he closely worked.
Air Marshal Khan visited our home many times with his wife Amna and sons, Umar and Ali.
I still remember the night Manzar Bashir returned from London and knocked on our door at 2 a.m.
“Saeed, is there room in your home for me?
” he asked.
Tears welled up in my father’s eyes as he replied, “This is all yours, Manzar Sahib.
” My father mentored many who today are renowned.
Aslam Kamal once told me, “Zabir beta, I can name several who owe their entire careers to your father’s quiet guidance.”
He published timeless special editions in Imroze—on Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), Waris Shah, and Allama Iqbal.
Though he wrote ghazals in his youth, he later dedicated all his poetry to the love of the Prophet.
For this, he was awarded the Presidential Award for Naat.
Every time he heard the blessed name of the Prophet, tears would well up in his eyes.
That sacred love was a legacy from his father, Hakim Muhammad Yaqoob, a devoted companion of the Pakistan Movement.
He was my beginning, he remains my strength, and he will always be my light.
—The writer is a senior journalist, analyst and researcher and author of 50 books, based in Lahore. (zabirsaeed@gmail.com)
