PILDAT mourns the death of Youth Parliament Members on-board Airblue Flight ED 202

Islamabad, July 28; PILDAT expresses deepest sorrow at the sad demise of 6 Members of Youth Parliament Pakistan, including the Youth Prime Minister, on board the airblue flight ED 202 that has crashed this morning.

PILDAT serves as the secretariat of the Youth Parliament Pakistan. The 6 members of Youth Parliament on board the flight were travelling from Karachi to join the Youth Parliament session, final session of this batch, that began in Islamabad today.

The PILDAT management and team, its board of directors, board of advisors and the Youth Parliament Steering Committee mourn the untimely and tragic death of the Youth Parliament members. We are joined in mourning by the alumni of Youth Parliament from across Pakistan as well as the various supporters of the Youth Parliament project. Our prayers and support goes to the families of our members in this time of loss.

The names and profiles of those members who we believe were on board the flight include:

1.     Mr. Hassan Javed Khan, (YP39-SINDH02; Blue) Youth Prime Minister
Mr. Hassan Javed hails from Hyderabad, Sindh. He was born on October 30, 1984 and was working for the Royal Bank of Scotland, Karachi as a Team Head for Client Relationships for the Royal Preferred Banking (RPB) Department. He completed his MSc in Investment and Finance with Distinction from Queen Mary, University of London, UK. During his stay there, he participated in University of London Squash League. Mr. Javed secured Gold medals at Hyderabad B.I.S.E Inter-school Squash Tournament consecutively in 1998 & 1999. He believed in an independent and sovereign Foreign Policy, uniform Educational System and strong Justice System.

2.     Ms. Syeda Rabab Zehra Naqvi, (YP41-SINDH04; Blue) Youth Information Minister
Syeda Rabab Zehra Naqvi hails from Karachi and was born on May 11, 1989. Having completed her GCE O Levels from the Mama Parsi School and GCE A Levels from the Karachi Grammar School, she was pursuing a BSc in Economics and Finance as an external student of the London School of Economics and Political Sciences (LSE). During her school years, she held various leadership positions, including memberships in various student councils. She served as an elected office bearer of the Students’ Union in her college. Ms Naqvi interned at various institutions, including banks, media firms and NGOs, and planned to follow a career in national politics.

3.     Mr. Prem Chand, (YP38-SINDH01; Blue), Youth Minister for Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs
Mr. Prem Chand hails from Sanghar, Sindh. He was born on April 03, 1984 and was studying for a Masters in Social Work at the University of Sindh. He was a social work student and performed numerous activities in this regard.

4.     Mr. Bilal Jamaee, (YP44-SINDH07; Green) Youth Shadow Minister for Information
Mr. Bilal Jamaee was born on June 14, 1987 in Karachi. He was a 2nd Year student for Mass Communication at the University Of Karachi and served as the General Secretary of ‘Bazm-e-Adab’. He participated in numerous Debating Competitions and had written a number of stories for children’s magazines. Mr. Jamee worked for two years at Elite Pulishers as Asst. Manager. Mr. Bilal Jamaee was part of the recent Youth Parliament Study Visit to UK that took place from July 5-9, 2010.

5.     Mr. Owais bin Laiq (YP45-SINDH08; Green), Member Youth Parliament Standing Committee on Information
Mr. Owais Bin Laiq hails from Karachi and was born on June 20, 1988. Following the completion of his GCE O and A Levels, he joined the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) for a bachelor degree in business administration. Passionately engaged in the field of media, he was the manager of the Media and Publication Society at the IBA and also won various contests, such as the National Samaa TV Documentary Competition. Mr. Laiq also notably interned at International Business Machine (IBM). Possessing a keen interest in travelling, he visited India, Iran, UAE, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

6.    Syed Arsalan Ahmad (YP42-SINDH05; Blue), Member Youth Parliament Standing Committee on Information
Syed Arsalan Ahmed hails from Karachi and was born on February 27, 1988. He completed his Matriculation with A-1 grade and his Intermediate in Pre-Engineering with an A grade. He then went on to complete his Bachelors in Textile Engineering from SFDAC University. Mr. Arsalan has been actively involved in debates both in his college and university life. He won several medals while representing his university in national debating events on several occasions.