Biography of Syed Babar Ali

252 Pages·2017·6.17 MB·English

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LEARNING FROM OTHERS
The autobiography of
Syed Babar Ali
Copyright © Syed Babar Ali 2017
First Edition 2015
Second Edition 2017
ISBN 978-969-9251-71-9
ISBN 978-969-9251-89-4
Cover Photograph
Zafar Ahmed
Cover & Book Design
Grey Density Design Studio, Lahore
Index
Sahil Zaheer
Printed and bound in Pakistan by
Topical Printers, Lahore
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be repro-
duced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means,
including information storage and retrieval systems, without
the prior permission of the copyright owner, except by a
reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
This book is dedicated to my dear wife, Perwin,
our wonderful family, my daughter, Henna, her husband Faisal,
my son, Hyder, his wife Amina and grandchildren, Mubarik, Zehra,
Murtaza and Gauhar and to the youth of Pakistan.

CONTENTS
Preface ....................................................................................................................................5
Parents and siblings ...............................................................................................................7
• Father: Syed Maratib Ali ...............................................................................................8

• Mother: Syeda Mubarik Begum .................................................................................22
• Brothers ......................................................................................................................28
- Syed Amjad Ali .......................................................................................................29
- Syed Wajid Ali ........................................................................................................32
- Syed Afzal Ali ..........................................................................................................34
• Sisters ..........................................................................................................................34
Education .............................................................................................................................35
• Aitchison College ........................................................................................................36
• Government College ..................................................................................................52
• University of Michigan, Ann Arbor ............................................................................54
The family business..............................................................................................................65
Packages Limited ..................................................................................................................77
Other ventures in industry ................................................................................................107
• American Express .....................................................................................................108
• Hoechst Pakistan Limited ........................................................................................108
• Advanced Management Program at Harvard ..........................................................112
• National Fertilizer Corporation ...............................................................................113
• Systems Limited ........................................................................................................125
• Dane Foods ...............................................................................................................126
• Sheikhupura Farms ..................................................................................................127
• Siemens .....................................................................................................................128
• First International Investment Bank Limited ..........................................................129
• Tri-Pack Films Limited ..............................................................................................130
Business learnings ..............................................................................................................131
• Business ethics .........................................................................................................132
• Some examples .........................................................................................................132
• Negotiations ..............................................................................................................133
• Coca-Cola Beverages Pakistan Limited ...................................................................134
• Nestle.........................................................................................................................134
• Bayer ..........................................................................................................................136
Promotion of education ....................................................................................................139
• Ali Industrial Technical Institute .............................................................................140
• LUMS .........................................................................................................................142
• Ali Institute of Education .........................................................................................159
• Task Force on Higher Education.............................................................................162
• Naqsh.........................................................................................................................164
• Board member of other educational institutions in Lahore ..................................164
WWF-Pakistan and WWF International .............................................................................167
Public duties .......................................................................................................................195
• Babar Ali Foundation ................................................................................................196
• Honorary Swedish Consul .......................................................................................198
• Work with the United Nations .................................................................................198
• In the caretaker Government of Mr. Moeen Qureshi ............................................200
• Other institutions and initiatives .............................................................................202
• Shalamar Hospital.....................................................................................................202
• Lahore School of Economics ...................................................................................203
• Bagh-e-Rehmat .........................................................................................................203
• South Asia Centre for Policy Studies (SACEPS) ......................................................204
• South Asia Regional Fund (SARF) ...........................................................................204
• Balusa ........................................................................................................................204
• India-Pakistan Relations ...........................................................................................205
Marriage and children ........................................................................................................207
Interaction with some politicians .....................................................................................217
• The Story of the Three Photographs ......................................................................218
• The Quaid-e-Azam ....................................................................................................218
• Sir Sikander Hayat ....................................................................................................223
• Malik Ghulam Mohammad – Governor-General 1951-1955 .................................223
• Pandit Nehru .............................................................................................................225
• Some connections with the Nehru family ..............................................................225
• Nawab Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani ...........................................................................225
• Chaudhry Muhammad Zafrulla Khan ......................................................................227
• Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto ....................................................................................................228
• General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq ..............................................................................229
• Benazir Bhutto ..........................................................................................................232
• General Pervez Musharraf ........................................................................................232
Conclusion .........................................................................................................................235
Index ...................................................................................................................................240