Ambassador Rasheed Ahmad aka Aboo passed away

Aboo passed away on 28 March 2026 at our family home. His empty room and the empty spot where he watched TV to catch up on world events burn and soften the eyes. It’s through the bookshelves and bookshelves that remind me of him and, of course his favourite Lata and Talat Mahmood songs, all in raag. Aboo never embraced the digital world but was very much in touch reading the paper everyday. Aboo’s life and ideas and love of reading, writing , music and film totally influenced me, even Kavita. His intellectual pursuits, I would say, intense desire to understand and make sense of the world through philosophical, scientific, religious, political and artistic angles has become a huge part of me. Aboo taught English Literature at Government College Lahore and, served the Foreign Office for 35 years in Algiers, Tunis, Kabul, Kuwait, Ankara, Bonn, Dakar, Athens and Almaty. His time in Kabul was especially dear to him. I love looking at photographs of him as as a young diplomat, always a cigarette in hand, and looking dashing. Aboo belonged to the time when newly independent states of the Global South were optimistic at the future, believed that education, science and political solidarity with each other would help us achieve success in every possible way. Education was so important to him that everyone who has ever met him knows he loved to ask them what they were reading, what they thought and what they had studied. He ensured all his 3 children got the best education. Aboo was rooted to his humble beginnings and, never let us forget it. He was one of 7 brothers and a sister. His father was a teacher, and wrote and read Farsi, Urdu and Arabic. Aboo became a diplomat, another brother was a doctor, another brother a physicist and another an agriculture officer. Aboo loved children, he loved us siblings, and loved Kavita. He loved defeating kids in Scrabble and Chess. There is so much he achieved in his life and, I feel like he was an institution. I hope I can always honour his memories and legacies.