The Times of Karachi
Editorial
Sunday, December 7, 1958

A.S. Bokhari

We mourn the death of Professor Ahmed Shah Bokhari, scholar, diplomat and a gentleman of great and dignified distinction.  With his passing, the world sustains a loss that will be hard to bear.  Professor Bokhari was a man of eminence.  He touched nothing he did not adorn.  The rich and eloquent tributes that have poured in testify to his versatility and to his capacity for influencing people and organizations profoundly.  The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Dag Hamarskjoeld in his statement speaks of him as a man whose influence will long be felt.

“He carried the dual heritage of Eastern and Western civilization.  This gave him an unusual approach to those problems of our time with which the United Nations has to deal,” the United Nations chief has said.  The delegate from El Salvador has called Professor Bokhari’s death “a great loss for the United Nations” while Mr. Arthur Lall of India whose adversary Professor Bokhari had been in many debates, in a moving tribute says “the world will be poorer for his death.”  These are handsome tributes amply deserved by one who served Pakistan well and who, even in ill-health, strove relentlessly to give to the United Nations a shape and a form that would enable it to endure.  Galleries used to be full when Professor Bokhari would speak at the United Nations.  His superb understanding of issues, his wit and charm endeared him to other delegates and all the world was his audience.  He fought fiercely for the right of self-determination of the Afro-Asian people and championed their cause.

As a scholar and a writer, Professor Bokhari’s contribution to learning and human understanding was great.  He was a brilliant satirist and he played a big part in the progress of present day Urdu literature.  He was a leading figure and the Vice President of the P.E.N. in Pakistan.

We offer to his family our heartfelt condolences and share, with the people of Pakistan, in this great sorrow.