Crown Prince Hassan’s quiet visit to Dhaka
Jan 3, 2004, 19:25
Crown Prince Hassan bin Talal paid the short quiet visit to Dhaka to a personal homage to his sister-in-law Salma Sobhan, who died of a massive heart attack on Thursday. Princess Sarvath Hassan is the youngest sister of Salma. Another sister Naz also came to Dhaka on the occasion as Mr Rashed Suhrawardy, only son of Huseyen Shaheed Shurwardy and cousin of Sarvath and Naz. It was a happy reunion on a sad occasion.
The visit was extremely personal in nature so much so that usual photo sessions were not allowed. He was in public for a short time during the Janaza and the Qul Khwani which were attended by family members and close friends of the family. Among those who attended the Jananza were Mayor of Dhaka City Sadek Hossain Khoka, Dr. Kamal Hossain, Barrister Mainul Hosein, Dr. M Younus, Rashed Suhrawardy, Prof. Moniruzzaman Mian, Shah M S Kibria, M. Saiduzzaman, and others. Also present were Prof. Rehman Sobhan and members of his family. Prince Hassan, younger brother of late King Hussein of Jordan, is a family man but with deft fingers on world developments. Currently the President of Club of Rome, the well known think tank that assembles together worlds top brains including the Nobel laureates from 50 countries to discuss issues afflicting the humanity. Just two months ago, Prince Hassan spoke to, this august gathering on global peace.
Prince Hassan is an ace pilot himself-breaking sound barrier as early as early as 89 in his F5 fighter-like his late brother kind. When he came to Dhaka he came by his own private jet. Rashed Suhrawardy flew into Amman to join with the Crown Prince.
The Prince was full of praise of Salma, elder sister of his adoring wife, Sarvath. He said how he was proud of his association with the family. The Prince met his wife at their tender age and grew up together attending same school in London. It was hardly a secret that he was going to marry Sarvath Ikramullah, which was a celebrity news in the then Pakistan. When his mother-in-law, Begum Shaista Ikramullah died, it was considered a great loss to the royal family.
Prince Hassan is adept in dealing with events both private and public with great ease. In private he is an immutable family man, demonstrated so eloquently in small but touching family events be it a Nasrah ceremony of his to-be wife (in 1960) or time with three daughters-Rahma, Sumaya and Badiya. He would gallop in horse with his nephew-now King-and son Prince Rashid. This may have come naturally to him and the bonds between the three brothers with the eldest-King Hussein-only demonstrated. There was hardly any important occasion, private or public, that late King of Jordan did not consult with him. Even the present King respects his quiet uncle on whose shoulder he loved to jump and never forgets to consult him on important occasions. Sources in Dhaka said Prince Talal hoped that he would have longer time here. Surely the people of Dhaka will look forward to the visit.
>>The Prince was full of praise of Salma, elder sister of his adoring wife, Sarvath. He said how he was proud of his association with the family. The Prince met his wife at their tender age and grew up together attending same school in London. It was hardly a secret that he was going to marry Sarvath Ikramullah, which was a celebrity news in the then Pakistan. When his mother-in-law, Begum Shaista Ikramullah died, it was considered a great loss to the royal family.<<
i found that an extremely interesting read. Thank you for posting.
Mentioned briefly in the article, Begum Shaista Ikramullah, deserves her own thread for her own accomplishments. Here’s a little snippet from this website - it’s sparse on details, but i hope the general gist gets through:
it was an interesting read
read up