Ghulam Ahmad (forester)
Shaikh Ghulam Ahmad (23 May, 1923-20 September, 2003) formed Resources Company Ltd., a holding company that promotes resource development in Pakistan. He is a former chairman and managing director of Pakistan Chrome Mines Ltd.
He wrote Unique and Everliving, a biography of prophet Muhammad. The book was written over a period of five years.
Life
He was born in the city of Poonch, in Poonch District of Kashmir, on 23 May, 1923. He was educated in Poonch at a school where his father, Shaikh Ghulam Rasul, was the headmaster. He married Jamila Begum at Rehara, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan on 11 May, 1949. He had three sons and two daughters, he received a B.Sc (Honors) degree in Physics and a Masters in Statistics from the University of Punjab in Lahore. He received a Postgraduate Diploma in Natural Resource Development ITC, Delft, Holland and completed postgraduate studies for a Phd in Civil Engineering at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado.
His daughter, Dr. Rehana Kausar MD was the first woman doctor from the Sudhan tribe.
Career
He joined the Royal Indian Air Force as a Fighter Pilot. He fought against the Japanese Imperial Army in Burma during World War II, flying in a Hawker Hurricane fighter plane.
He was selected for the Forest Service after World War II and trained at the Forest Research Institute at Dehradun, India. After partition of India and Pakistan he joined the Pakistan Forest Service, becoming the Chief Conservator of Forests and Director of the Aerial Survey Project in Peshawar, Pakistan, where he surveyed the Northwest Frontier Province for a Natural Resources Survey from 1965-1969. He introduced hybrid poplars in Pakistan, including Azad Kashmir, and especially Rawalakot, changing the living conditions of the rural population.
He supervised an aerial survey of the Indus Basin for the development of natural resources. He moved to the United States in August 1971 to complete a PhD in Civil Engineering at Colorado State University.
After retiring from the Pakistani Forest Service, Ahmad joined the Colorado Department of Military Affairs, where he helped draft the Emergency Response Plan for the State of Colorado.
From 1983 until 1999 he was the Managing Director of Pakistan Chrome Mines Ltd.
Philanthropy
He gave scholarships for education of residents of Poonch District, particularly members of the Sudhan tribe, resulting in hundreds of graduates in engineering and medicine. He died on September 21, 2003, at the age of 82 in New Jersey. He along with his life long friend Lt. Col. Tassadaq Hussain Khan helped improve the living conditions of hundreds of Sudhans.
See also List of Kashmiris
He was buried at his favourite place on earth, his apple orchard in Rawalakot, Azad Kashmir.