Bazm-e-Akram’s President passes away

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services) 

An eminent library scientist and the President of Bazm-e-Akram, Abdul Samad Ansari, passed away in Karachi on June 20.

“We announce with tears that one of our colleagues, Abdul Samad Ansari departed to heaven at 3.10 am on June 20 due to sudden heart failure. His soyem was held on June 22,” Prof Dr Nasim Fatima, the founder of the Bazm-e-Akram said in a statement. 

“He had started his career as a cataloguer at the Dr Mahmood Hussain Library, housed in the University of Karachi. He was the appointed as cooperative lecturer in the department of library science at the university,” she recalled. 

“Having worked as a librarian in different organizations like the Works Library, Nabi Bagh Library and Madinat-ul-Hikmah he was working at the Trinity Girls College Library at the time of his death,” she added. 

Abdul Samad Ansari was serving as the President of the Bazm-e-Akram, a literary forum established by the worthy students of Prof Dr Ghani-ul-Akram Sabzwari in the honour of their beloved and famed teacher. 

A life member of the Pakistan Library Association (PLA), he was also one of the editors of the iconic quarterly, Pakistan Library and Information Science Journal (PLISJ). He was Deputy Director of the Pakistan Bibliographical Working Group (PBWG). 

“He was a jolly person by nature which made him popular among his circle of friends. He had a good sense of humour too,” Prof Dr Nasim Fatima, who was instrumental in getting him elected as the President of the Bazm-e-Akram, narrated. 

“Abdul Samad Ansari had cooperated in the compilation of the famous publications like Who’s Who in Library Science in Pakistan and the book of children libraries with the renowned scholar, Prof Dr Ghani-ul-Akram Sabzwari,” she said. 

“He belonged to a literary family his grandmother, Naeem Fatima Taufeeq having contributed several poetical collections to literature. He himself conducted several interviews of dignitaries and was also a published poet,” Prof Dr Nasim Fatima informed.