METU 1969-1972, Mechanical Engineering

3 Children

Shot dead in 1998 in Karachi

BALI (Iqbal Khan 1969) IS DEAD   

I was his childhood friend but had not met him since 1989. He welcomed you when you went to him but only rarely would approach you himself. But who can forget the spend-thrift, moody, giggling and fun-loving Bali who could not make it at METU.

I was traveling to Islamabad from Naushehra. His village is two kilometers from the main highway after you pass Kashmir Regimental Centre, about eight kilometers from the Attock bridge. A perfectly serene place on the left bank of river Indus. He had invited me to his village about fifteen years back. I pass this way several times a year. This time I had 'feeling' I should see him.

He was murdered in Karachi about six months back.

Aslam March 19, 1999

Messages of Condolence

I cannot express how shocking it is to learn of Bali's death. He was so full of life. Although I haven't met him since I left METU in 1971, his voice and laughter still ring loudly in my ears. May the Almighty have mercy on him, and forgive him his mistakes, and grant him a place in the jannat.

Kazi Zulkader Siddiqui

Fareed,

Thank you very much for informing me. Bali and me has spent some quality time together in Metu. Me, Jahangir Khan and Bali were the closest and we all left Metu about the same time. The worst part was I lost all contact with him all these years and the only news of him after all these years was the saddest. May God bless his soul. He will be missed. He was Yaron ka Yar.

Zaheer.

Dear Arkadasler,

It was really shocking to hear about "Bali's" demise. Although his stay at METU was brief, he had left a lasting impact on the Pakistani community at METU at that time. He was just one-year junior to my batch of 1968 but he so mingled with us that it felt that he was from our batch.

Like Aslam, Kazi & Zaheer Warraich have pointed out, one cannot forget his happy go lucky, carefree attitude, continuous laughter & a cigarette in his mouth !! In fact, he was one of the persons I was looking forward to meet during my upcoming visit to Karachi on 2nd April'99. At that time, I was hoping to convince him to come to the Y2K reunion. Alas !! it was not meant to be !! May his soul rest in peace !! Ameen !!

Those of you who did not know him personally can go to the "Photo Album" on the site & look under Kazi Zulkader's collection & you will be able to see his smiling face in a number of photographs.

Let's all say a small prayer for him when we read this message.

In grief !!

Mir Arshad Ali Khan

I had the honor of sharing accommodations with him for some time. Like everybody else has mentioned he was a happy go lucky person who otherwise didn’t give a damn. What was really special in my relation with him was when I first arrived in Miami in 1973 to join U of M he was there to receive me at the Greyhound terminal and help me settle down. I initially stayed at his apartment with unknown number of other want to bes. He was very generous, caring and sincere. We stayed in touch for a long time but he went on with his own ways and we eventually lost track. God bless his soul and have mercy on him. Ameen.

Sikander Memon.