Kazi Zulkader Siddiqui

Ancestry

Kazi Zulkader traces his lineage to the first Caliph Abu Bakr. He is also a direct descendant of the famous Sufi Baha-ud-din Zakariya Multani (1160–1267). One of Baha-ud-din Zakariya's great-grandsons – Shaykh Nizamuddin – moved to the Deccan in South India during the reign of Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq around the year 1343. Subsequently, this branch of the family settled down in Hyderabad for over six centuries. Kazi Zulkader's ancestors were given the title of "Kazi", i.e. judge and administrators of the various towns that were located west of the city of Hyderabad – like Qandahar, Udgir, Parbhani, etc.

His grandmother's great grand father was the great Sufi Sayyid Sahib Husayni, who is buried at Tekmal.

His grandfather Kazi Zainul Abedin who was the last of the Kazis of Udgir was one of the earliest officers of the Hyderabad Civil Service and eventually rose up to the rank of a Secretary in the government of the Nizam of Hyderabad State. His father Kazi Abdur Rasheed also followed in the footsteps and joined the Hyderabad Civil Service in 1946, two years before the fall of Hyderabad State to Indian armed forces.

A year after the creation of Pakistan, his grandfather Kazi Zainul Abedin moved to Pakistan and settled down in Mirpurkhas, Sindh in 1948. Kazi Zainul Abedin spent the rest of his years at Mirpurkhas in developing agricultural farms and social work in that area. He died in 1962 and is buried on his farms there.

Education and early life

Kazi is a graduate in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, Mass, USA. He pursued his graduate studies in at the Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University, Montreal Canada. Prior to his studies at MIT, he also studied at the Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, Turkey for 3 semesters.

He spent his high school years at Cadet College Petaro, one of the premier institutions in Pakistan, from where he completed his Matriculation and Intermediate (FSc). Cadet College Petaro is located around 160 km from Karachi, the main port city of Pakistan. This college has produced many prominent Pakistanis who have excelled in every field in Pakistan.

In 1969, upon completion of his High School Certificate from Petaro, Kazi moved to Ankara, Turkey and was admitted to the Chemical Engineering program at the Middle East Technical University in the Fall of that year with a full merit scholarship from CENTO. Those were tumultuous years, and the university was going through a difficult period. With political upheavals influenced by Leftist and communist philosophies, Middle East Technical University was also hit badly. Boycott of classes and other Leftist student activities disrupted studies, leading to closure of the university for 6 months from March – August 1971 after a battle on campus between the Leftist students and the Turkish armed forces.

Dissatisfied with the loss of academic progress and the on-campus politics, Kazi then chose to make a move. He applied for transfer to MIT, USA. He was granted admission as a transfer student in the Second year with scholarship and financial assistance from the university. He moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts in September 1971. Subsequently, he graduated from MIT from the Department of Chemical Engineering in 1974.

Upon return to Pakistan from Canada, Kazi Zulkader married Ayesha in 1980. They have four children – Amina, Kazi Muhammad, Khadija and Sarah.

Academic experience

For the past several years, Kazi has also been a professor of Ethics, History and Religion at various universities in Pakistan. He has been Professor of Civilization Studies and Medical Ethics at the Shifa College of Medicine (Bahria University) where he headed the "Physician and Society" program from 2003 to 2010. This unique program examined philosophical and medical ethics issues in a Muslim and Pakistani environment.

Previously, he has taught courses on History and Modern Muslim thought at the Hamdard University, Islamabad Campus. He was also the Founder Head of the Department of Islamic Studies at the Women's Institute of Science and Humanities (Riphah International University, Islamabad), where he remained as a visiting Professor in later years.

He has lectured extensively on various subjects related to civilizational studies, ethics, religion and technology in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Canada and Sri Lanka.

He was also a member of the Editorial Committee of the well respected journal "Islamic Studies" published by the Islamic Research Institute of the International Islamic University Islamabad.

Solar Energy and Other technologies

The concept and implementation of the Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park (QA Solar) at Bahawalpur was his single largest contribution towards development of solar energy technologies in Pakistan. He worked closely with the Government of Punjab to develop the concept of having a 1000MW solar power plant to reduce the energy shortage in the country. Working closely with TBEA of China, he was instrumental in the design, engineering, contractual implementation, construction and commissioning of the first 100MW of the project. This was the first ever grid-connected solar power plant built in Pakistan. In order to ensure highest performance and output, German consultants were employed to oversee the quality of the equipment used and the construction methodology. The project was implemented in record time. The construction of the plant took only 3 months once the design was approved by the consultants. The output of the plant is around 10 percent above the estimated capacity.

The Prime Minister of Pakistan awarded Kazi with a Gold Medal on the date of inauguration of the plant for his work in making this project a reality in record time and within budget, and for successfully coordinating between the client, consultants, contractors and other the utility companies involved.

Prior to his contributions in the field of solar energy, Kazi was responsible for the construction and implementation of several major mobile telephone infrastructure projects in Pakistan, Bangladesh, UAE and Afghanistan. This included the initial phases of construction and launch of infrastructure for Ufone (Pakistan), Warid Telecom (Pakistan), Warid Telecom (Bangladesh), Wateen Telecom (Pakistan) with the development of Main Switching Centers (MSCs) and BTS cell sites. He was also partially responsible for the infrastructure development of Mobilink (Pakistan), Zong (Pakistan), Etisalat (UAE), Afghan Wireless, and Telenor (Pakistan).

During his years in Saudi Arabia, he led the projects for the establishment of two chemical industries – production of corrosion inhibitors for gas turbines, and production of silicates and aluminates.

Work with NGOs

His work in different capacities with non-governmental organisations is well recognized in Pakistan. Most notable among these is his work with the Petarian Foundation which is certified by the Pakistan Council for Philanthropy. Since its inception in 2003, he has been the chairman of the Petarian Foundation, which offers scholarships to needy and meritorious students at Cadet College Petaro, and runs teacher training programs.

The devastating earthquake in the northern areas of Pakistan on 8 October 2005 brought the Petarian Foundation to offer relief programs, medical relief programs and reconstruction and rehabilitation programs under his leadership. To date, the Petarian Foundation has disbursed nearly US$2.5 million worth of relief and reconstruction services in Bagh, AJK in cash and kind.

The Foundation also established relief camp for the Internally Displaced Persons from Swat at Peshawar in 2009, and for the affected population of the 2010 Floods in Pakistan. It set up relief camp at Jhimpir, Sindh, and constructed homes for people at Jhimpir, Dadu, and Peshawar District.

Kazi was also the founder President of the METUPAK Foundation, established by the Pakistani alumni of Middle East Technical University (METU). The foundation strove to establish a world class technical university in Pakistan on the lines of METU. Much of the work on this project was done and the foundation obtained the requisite approvals from the Higher Education Commission and the President of Pakistan in 2007. However with the political upheavals that followed and changes in government, all such public sector university projects were abandoned by the government of the People's Party. The foundation had to abandon the project.

Another important milestone was the establishment of Hyderabad Foundation USA, which has the objective to support provision of free or low cost healthcare to the impoverished people of South Asia. Kazi has been the President of this foundation from its inception. The first project is the support and development for the Osmania Hospital in Karachi which is owned and operated on charitable basis by the Hyderabad Relief and Rehabilitation Trust.

Other activities

Since his return to Pakistan in 1995, Kazi has been involved in a number of activities and has contributed to support social sector and educational programs. He has been deeply involved in philanthropic organisations.

Due to his commitments, he was chosen to sit on the Board of Governors / Management Board of the following academic institutions:

During the tenure of Dr. Zafar Ishaq Ansari, he served as an honorary adviser on technology, and an ex-officio member of the Board of Research at the Islamic Research Institute of the International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan for nearly 15 years.

Kazi is also an education counselor for new undergraduate applicants to Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge MA, USA. He has also been a Member of the Nomination Committee for selection of candidates from Pakistan for the Eisenhower Foundation Fellowships, Washington, DC.

Publications

Kazi has authored a number of articles on history, religion, ethics and technology published in the Journal of Pakistan Historical Society, Islamic Studies, Al-Hawliyah, Arc, and other journals. He was the editor of a number of journals during his student days at MIT and McGill University.

Some of his articles and books that have been published are as follows:

Professional affiliations