Eulogy: Award-winning aid worker drowns in Neelum stream

Niaz ran rehabilitation projects during 2005 earthquake, 2010 floods.

MUZAFFARABAD:

Humanitarian aid worker Mubashar Niaz devoted his life to the development, people and natural beauty of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. And it was nature that took his life.

On a visit to the Neelum Valley, Niaz drowned in a fast-flowing stream, Jagraan nala, near Kooral bridge on Sunday night. After a five-hour search by local residents, his body was recovered and sent to Rawalpindi for burial.

Niaz, 42, was crossing a makeshift log footbridge over the stream to get to a village where his charity, the HEED Foundation, runs several community-welfare and construction projects.

He was pacing behind Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s Education Minister Mian Abdul Waheed on the narrow bridge when he lost his balance and fell into the violent stream.

The award-winning aid worker had a Master’s in project management from the University of Leeds, UK, and attained another Master’s degree in water and environmental management from WEDC-Loughborough University, UK.

With such specialised degrees and training, Niaz formed his own NGO known as HEED (Health, Education, Environment and Development) in 2003. His organisation played a significant role in the rehabilitation of people, and development in the education and water and sanitation sectors in AJK after the devastating 2005 earthquake.

He had also worked with Oxfam-UK, a global relief and development charity, along with other international humanitarian organisations, besides working in the UK, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain as a water engineer prior.

Education Minister Mian Waheed told The Express Tribune that Niaz was a man of commitment and he was working to change the social and economic conditions of vulnerable groups and flood victims of Jagraan Valley.

Besides the help of the poor, the Heed Foundation under Niaz also organised workshops and provided training to contribute to the empowerment of vulnerable groups, and bring them in under the social safety net.

He was honoured for his committed services by many accolades. He was twice the winner of the British Expertise International Award for ‘Outstanding International Development Project in a Fragile State’ for his project ‘Rehabilitating Flood Damaged Water Supply Systems in Northern Pakistan’.

He also received awards for his rehabilitation projects for the 2010 flood victims, including eight water supply schemes in isolated areas of Neelum Valley.

The people of the flood-hit areas of Jagraan Valley termed the death of Mubashar Naiz a setback to the ongoing reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in the area. “Mubashar was a gentleman with the spirit to help the poor,” said Khawaja Naseer, a Jagraan resident.

He had a deep love for Neelum Valley’s natural beauty that compelled him to work for the poorest people in this area, said Mrs Shireen Wahid, a lawyer and resident of adjoining Athmuqam. “The best tribute to this great man would be to work hard to accomplish all his under-construction projects and public welfare schemes, not only in Azad Kashmir but across the country. The people of the valley will remember Mubashar Niaz forever.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2^nd, 2013.