ISLAMABAD: Family, friends and acquaintances at a reference held yesterday, remembered distinguished broadcaster Aslam Azhar as a man on a mission to promote culture and aesthetics to build a progressive society.

Participants at the reference, which was arranged by the Pakistan Writers Association (PWA) on Saturday, described one of the late founding fathers of Pakistan Television (PTV) as a towering figure but a humble individual who transformed the state television into a vibrant and informative public broadcasting institution.

AzharpassedawayonDec29,2015.

The reference began by asking the participants to share their stories and accounts of their experiences with Azhar. The memories poured in, from brief personal encounters to the experience of working with him, the difficult time he faced during the governments of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and GenZiaul Haq and the impact of his work on people and society as a whole.

Many audience members, including his relatives, said he should have penned an autobiography which they believed would have been full of experiences to give people an idea of the political, cultural and social dimension of his days.

`One of the reasons he probably didn`t do it was because he was a straightforward man and felt his thoughts might offend some, something he didn`t wish to do,` one guest suggested.

Pakistan Academy of Letters president Arshad Mehmood said Azhar was a learned man with progressive views, who wanted more cultural activities in Pakistan.

`He was upright, competent and a man of integrity. A man who has given more to the country than take anything, because he did not want an intolerant and extremist society that this country has become today,` Mr Mehmood said.

The participants also spoke about his early life. Born in Lahore in 1932, Azharstudied at the Central Model High School, and later the Government College in Lahore. He was offered a position at PTV after he worked with Pakistan Radio when he was 32 years old.

In addition to his interest in the performing arts, Azhar was also an athlete who enjoyed cycling, cricket and wrestling.

Azhar`s contribution to the promotion of the arts particularly music was also remembered, as was the uninterrupted election transmission of 1970 which ran uninterruptedfornearly72hours.

`It was the kind of landmarl< transmission that set the tone for all the election transmissions of the future, especially when PTV was only aired for three hours in those days and dramas couldn`t be recorded and were presented live,` one guest said.

Nazir Mehmood, whose association with Azhar began onstage, said his greatest contribution was his resistance to the oppressive Ziaul Haq regime, inciting the spirit of rebellion throughtheatre.

`It was like a theatrical offence,` he said.Azhar`s wife Nasrin Azhar recalled that their door was always open to friends, to practice art and hold meetings. His son Arieb Azhar said his father, in his last decade, found comfort among his books and became a man of few words.

`But he never gave up on his rationality and logic. He stopped describing himself as a communist and would not call himself a religious person or an atheist. He had become a man of spiritual insight,` Mr Azhar said. He added that his father would always question everything and was not afraid of dying.

The family also recalled the challenges of the Ziaul Haq regime, when Azhar was removed from his position at PTV.

`We were told to leave the country because we feared for our well-being. But it was Ziaul Haq who wanted Aslam Azhar back in PTV towards the end of his rule, Ms Azhar said.

The participants called for an arts and cultural institution named after Azhar for his contribution to progressive thought.