General Abdul Qayyum

Background,

Lieutenant General Abdul Qayyum Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military), hails from rural areas of Chakwal district of Punjab province of Pakistan. The general, who entered internationally reputed and prestigious PMA Kakul in May 1966 as a cadet, was commissioned in Pakistan Army Artillery in April 1968 and finally retired as a three star general in January 2004.

Later he became chairman of Pakistan Steel Board from where he resigned under protest against a fraudulent privatization attempt of Pakistan’s largest integrated steel plant which was later canceled by the full court bench consisting of 11 judges of the country’s Supreme Court. This vindicated the chairman’s stand that the said privatization was not transparent because of “Errors of Omission and Commission” as stated by the apex court in its historical decision. The general served the country in different capacities for 40 long years. He now leads a happy retired life and is Chairman of Bin Qutab Foundation which strives to restore hope of the down trodden and help the have-nots specially in the rural areas of Pakistan focusing on health care, education and development of individual skills.

Military and Other Services,

• The highlights of general’s 38 years spotless meritorious military service for the country include:-
  • Participation in Indo-Pak 1971 war in Sialkot sector as captain.
  • Appointment as Pakistan Army Liaison officer with United Nation Military Observer’s Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) in
• late seventies
  • Grade one and two staff officer in GHQ Military Operation Directorate from 1979 to 1984 dealing with issues related to Indian aggression in Siachen Glacier area of disputed Kashmire region and Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
  • Service in Saudi Army from 1985 to 1987 as a battalion commander of an artillery regiment.
  • Member of faculty at the National Defence University (1989-1990).
  • Command of artillery and infantry brigades from 1991 to 1993.
  • Military Secretary with two Prime Minister of Pakistan (July 1993 – Oct 1996)

• Command of an artillery division from 1996 to 1998.

Corporate sector experience,

Lieutenant General Abdul Qayyum acquired valuable corporate sector experience of over eight years as chief executive and chairman of the two largest industrial units of the country namely Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) and Pakistan Steel,

Chairman POF,

As chairman of POF, the General handled a force consisting of thirty thousand labor, technicians and engineers working in a complex of fourteen small and big factories stretched over an area of about one hundred kilometers. Under his command the production of factories went record high meeting almost 100% tri service ammunition needs. Besides export of military hard-ware first time crossed 30 million US Dollars. Wah Cantt, a city having a population (.4 million) more than Brunai, was totally transformed. The road network was upgraded and a medical college and a women's university were founded.

Chairman Wah Nobel Group,

The General also had an additional charge to chair the board of directors of a multinational Wah Nobel Group of companies having directors from Boffors of Sweden and Almekhail company of Saudi Arabia. The productivity, sales and profit of this group enhanced by 300% when the General was their chairman.

Chairman Attock Chemicals and High Tech Plastic,

The General also was chairman of the board of directors of subject two companies which performed very well under his command.

Chairman Pakistan Steel,

As Chairman Pakistan steel, Lieutenant General Abdul Qayyum totally transformed this largest integrated plant of the country. Steel mill, which had accumulated losses of over Rs. 4 billions when General Qayyum took over in Jan 2004, earned a pretax gross profit of almost Rs: 18 billions in 3 years from Jan 2004 to sep 2006 .Balance sheet of Pak Steel pertaining to the said period prepared by the renowned auditors Ford Rhodes Sidat Hyder and Co, reveals the following :-

All Below figures are in Billion Rupees:

• Financial year (2003-2004) Pre tax gross profit 7.094 Profit after Taxation 4.852

• Financial year 2004-2005 Pre tax gross profit 10.192 Profit after Taxation 6.734
• Financial year 2005-2006 Pre tax gross profit 1.336 Profit after Taxation 0.723
• The turnaround of POF under Lt, General Abdul Qayyum’s command made him the President of Pakistan’s first choice to lead Pakistan Steel as its Chairman and CEO mainly to pull the plant out of the financial crises and undertake its much needed BMRE and expansion from one million ton per year to 3 million ton .

Transparence and Quality Management. Pakistan steel at this time was riddled in debt, tainted with charges of corruption and was in a state of despair due to bad management and lack of capital investment. Within two years the chairman managed to clear Pakistan steel of its all debts and signed an agreement with Transparency International to remove any stigma of corruption associated with the organization. Further, he successfully implemented a quality management system (QMS) resulting is ISO accreditation in five separate areas making Pakistan steel a pioneering QMS organization in Pakistan. Overcoming the challenges imposed by poorly maintained equipment, the Chairman successfully initiated a maintenance strategy resulting in Pakistan Steel achieving its’ highest productivity and profitability in 2 consecutive years. Subsequently the transformation of Pakistan Steel was historic and unprecedented in its 25 years history. Transparency International called it a role model institution and Japan Credit Rating Company (JCR) graded it as A and A+

Special Children School and Welfare Trust. While serving in Pak Steel, General Qayyum also founded Pak Steel Welfare Trust, a special children school and renovated and up graded a 100 bed hospital. Improvements in all spheres of Pakistan Steel including productivity, health care , education and even in the social sector speak volumes about the dynamic personality and gifted leadership qualities of the General.

4.Journalistic Experiences The General writes a weekly column in a National Urdu Daily Nawa-i-waqt under the caption of Fikr-o-Khial. Details available on www.dhudialnews.com

5.Politico-Military Analyst. In view of General’s rich experience of military life and Government functioning, he is regularly invited by various television channels to give his assessment and expert opinion on issues pertaining to the subject as politico-military analyst.

6.Travelling. The General has widely traveled and visited over sixty countries in almost all continents of the World and met their heads of states or Governments while accompanying the Prime Ministers of Pakistan or during study tours when he was a student and later an instructor in the National Defence University.

7.Book. The General compiled a book “Islam in Perspective” while commanding an artillery unit in Saudi Arabia from 1985-87.This book contains commentaries of the renowned scholars of the Muslim World including Syed Qutab and Adil Salahi.

8.Sports. The General is a keen golfer having a handicap of 14.

Achievements,

Spotless personal character, extreme humility and modesty, enviable human qualities, God fearing approach, extreme dedication to protect national interests, forthrightness, 40 years long meritorious services for the state and unquestionable personal integrity enabled village school educated Abdul Qayyum to rise to a three stars General’s rank in very competitive professional environments of Pakistan Army. General is a War Veteran and was awarded the honour of Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military) by the Government of Pakistan. Prominent aspects of General Qayyum’s personality and professional pursuits are as under:-

a. General is a practicing muslim with profound faith in destiny. Has performed three Hajjs including one Hajj-e-Akbar.

b. Remained member of faculty at National Defence University for 2 years and contributed for national security in the intellectual field.

c. The two Prime Ministers of Pakistan namely Mr. Moeen Qureshi and Mohtrama Benazir Bhutto rated General Abdul Qayyum as their outstanding military secretary and regarded him as their able counselor. General’s conduct as military secretary was absolutely clean and enviable. In early 1996, he voluntarily resigned from the post of military secretary against the wishes of the then Prime Minister and joined his profession. His contention was that the serving army persons should not remain out of their profession of arms for prolonged period.

d. As a Chairman Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POFs), the General enhanced defence production to all time high, increased exports to even European countries and transformed the city of Wah into an island of excellence. Foundation of Wah Medical College, Wah University, Wah Comsats Institute, Wah Engineering College and up gradation of all educational institutions including Special Children School brought literacy level in Wah close to 100%. Besides, construction of roads network and bus stops, improvement of horticulture and landscaping has transformed Wah City into the best living area in Pakistan. General’s care for human dignity and special attention to low paid workers made him the most popular leader of thirty thousand (30,000) employees of POFs.

e. During General Qayyum’s stay as Chairman Pakistan Steel, Pakistani Nation jubilantly watched an historic unprecedented financial turn around of this largest integrated plant of the country which remained a sick unit ever since its inception. The General voluntarily signed an integrity pact with the Transparency International which reduced the corruption and embezzlement cases to almost zero. With his innovative and creative outstanding leadership traits, the General motivated the manpower of the Steel Mills and led them from the front, resultantly the mill not only wiped off its 7.62 billion rupees accumulated losses but also earned a pre-tax net profit of 18.1 billion rupees in three years period unknown in the thirty years history of Pakistan Steel. The General was keenly working to repair and expand Steel Mills plant to a 3 million ton annual capacity, when he was stopped by the government and directed to put the mill on fast track privatization list. His Pakistan Steel board was dissolved and repair work on the mill suddenly stopped. The General advised the government in writing against privatization of this strategic asset at a throw away price. However when the people in corridors of power refused to listen to him, he resigned from this highly prestigious post despite offers for other lucrative appointments. Later, the full bench of the supreme court in Pakistan endorsed General Qayyum’s observations and cancelled the privatization. This vindicated General’s stand and ultimately forced the president to resign.

f. The General is presently Chairman of Binqutab Foundation which is working hard to raise a 200 bed charity hospital in rural areas of Chakwal district. This foundation has numerous other projects which can be seen on its website www.binqutabfoundation.com

g. General is also president of an Association for Citizen Empowerment (ACE) which is working for down trodden and have-nots with focus on victims of terrorism.

h. As Chairman of POFs and Pakistan Steel the General took special care of the minorities which mainly included Christian and Hindus. Their worship places were not only renovated but also personally visited by the General.

i. In fight against tyranny and to protect human rights, General remained in the fore front in the long marches focusing on restoration of judges in Pakistan. He had the unique honour of addressing various bars including Awan-e-Adal in Lahore on special invitation by the Bar Management.

References,

• http://www.generalqayyum.com

• http://www.binqutabfoundation.com
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Qayyum_%28General%29