09/02/2013
After a long battle with cancer, Col Abdul Qayyum (Rimcollian 20.1.1944 – 24.10.1947) passed away peacefully at his daughter Naila's home in the USA at around 3.30 AM IST this morning. He was in coma for the past few days and his family members were beside. I got the news over the phone from Naila's daughter Zainab. He last visited the RIMC in 1990 when Chinu Mahanti was the Commandant.
Soldier, civil servant, and teacher Abdul Qayyum was born in Barisal Bengal in 1932. He was educated in the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College Dehra Dun, India and Aitchison College Lahore. He won the Sword of Honour and the Norman Gold Medal from the Pakistan Military Academy Kakul and was commissioned as a Cavalry Officer in the Pakistan Army in 1952. Was also an Honour graduate of the Fuhrungsakademie (Hamburg) and an Honorary Member of the German General Staff. Along with another Rimcollian Habib Akbar, the two along with Hugh Catchpole started ‘Cadet College Hasan Abdal’ modeled after the RIMC in 1954. After the 1971 war being Bengali he was for a short while placed in Detention he did not move to Bangladesh but continued to stay on in Pakistan with his wife Parveen. His last assignment in uniform was as Senior Instructor, Command and Staff College (Quetta).
After retirement in 1974, he led an active intellectual and spiritual life beginning as a Professor of Geopolitics, Logic and Scientific Method at the Staff College, Quetta (1974-77). From 1978 – 89 he was Additional Secretary (Policy Planning and Research) in the Ministry of Information, Islamabad and from 1990 – 94 the President, Institute of Regional Studies, Islamabad (1990-94). From 1994 onwards he was Professor of Islamic Studies at the National University of Sciences and Technology at Karachi.
A prolific writer on strategic issues, and being a staunch secular moderate Muslim he has also published books viz. ‘On Striving to be a Muslim (Kazi Publication, Chicago USA, 1980); ‘Understanding the Quran’ ICCTS, Islamabad, 1986); ‘Lectures on Islam’ (NUST, Rawalpindi, 1997) and ‘Studies in Comparative Religion’ (lectures for the Asian Study Group of Diplomatic Community in Islamabad, 1986-89). Till his recent illness he was a visiting lecturer on a variety of topics in several civil and military institutions in Pakistan.
Abdul Qayyum's funeral will be Saturday Feb 9; at 2.30 pm (USA time) at Stonewall Memory Gardens 12004 Lee Highway, Manassas 20109. A gathering will follow at their house 5630 Barrymore Rd., Centereville 20120.
All Rimcollians may join in the family's prayers for the Almighty to grant his soul to rest in peace and for the family to bear this irreparable loss.
With best wishes and regards
God bless
Sincerely
Arun Bhattacharya
