Muhammad Yaqin was born on 4 April, 1931 in a small village of Sirsa in Indian Punjab at a time of political upheaval in colonial India. At the age of 16 he migrated to Southern Punjab with his father during the Partition of India in 1947. He witnessed the bloodshed it brought in person and experienced what it meant to be a refugee. This agonizing personal experience and his political affiliation to the national cause entrenched a great love, spirit and endurance for Pakistan in his personality. Supported by his loving family and a father who strongly believed in the value of education he was educated at some of the best institutions including Islamia College Railway Road, Government College and King Edward Medical College, Lahore. In pre-Partition India he grew up with friends from all communities and some of his Muslim friends also ended up across the border in Pakistan. Amongst them were the well-known religious scholar Dr Israr Ahmed and Dr Altaf Hussain Qureshi, editor of the Urdu Digest. Together they shared a love of the Urdu tradition and the newly formed nation. An avid reader of Urdu and English literatures with a love for Persian, Arabic, Punjabi and Siraiki he is emblematic of a multilingual generation with a strong historical knowledge. His passion for latest scientific knowledge is evidenced in his professional career as a medic. After qualifying from King Edward he travelled to England for his Diploma in Ophthalmology at the Royal College of Surgeons in London. This exposure to the UK including the South West coast opened up a wider world professionally and ingrained in him a great tolerance of the British way of life although he didn’t take to the climate much. Duty bound to his family and his country he returned home from Brighton in 1962. Here he started a new phase of life with his arranged marriage to Navida Qayyum and residence in Lahore. This period also marked the beginnings of his medical career at Mayo Hospital as Honorary Eye surgeon working with legends like Prof Ramzan Ali Syed and Prof Shafi. Later he was appointed as Assistant Professor at King Edward Medical College in 1964 for 1 years. With an uncertain future in the Government Sector he moved to Jalal Din Waqf hospital for 4 years. His relentless diligence and dedication opened the door for his final destination, The Data Darbar Hospital which he joined in 1970. This was to be the passion of his life and he was able to very quickly develop it into a major Ophthalmology Center in Lahore. With his vision and efforts the latest machines were installed here. The first Flouroscein Angiography, Argon laser and YAG laser in Lahore were done at this institution. Prof Jalil, one of the pioneers of vitreo-retina at that times was requested to come to his department on deputation to teach and train everybody on the latest equipment in the newly constructed Retina Block in 1977. A corneal grafting unit was set up at the institution with the help of Lions Club which helped hundreds of blind patients get their sight back. With the blessing of the great sufi saint Hazrat Data Ganj Baksh the wards of his department were centrally air conditioned at that time with free food in those early times. He worked as Medical Superintendent at the institution for 2 years before his retirement in 1991.Always a committed humanitarian he conducted free eye camps at Murree, Taxila, Chaman, Loralai, Nankana, Sahiwal, Kahror Pakka, Faroooqabad and Sadiqabad. As a senior member of the Lions Club and the eye department of Shalimar Hospital he was instrumental in the designing and building of the Hudson Silva Hospital in Lahore. He has been a visiting consultant at LRBT eye hospital since his retirement.

He was a founder member of the Ophthalmological Society of Pakistan which was set up on 19 December 1957collaborating closely with Prof Raja Mumtaz. After receiving the Norvel Christy award in 1991 he served as the President of the Lahore Branch from 1992 to 93. His services for prevention of blindness in Pakistan were recognized by APAO in 2007. He become President Elect of Pakistan Medical Association. A highlight of his career was to conduct the first international Afro Asian meeting in Lahore, as Organizing Secretary working closely with Profs Raja Mumtaz, Wani,,Latif, Wasif, Jalil, Dil Mirza and Munir-ul-Haq. His most recent project which is close to his heart and his father’s home is a charity eye hospital in his village Kahror Pakka.

Mohammad Yaqin is truly deserving of a lifetime achievement award for his work toward developing quality eye care in Pakistan and for fostering a culture of research, innovation and charity work contributing to an evolving environment for Ophthalmology in Pakistan. His belief in God and the philosophy of love mark his humility as a Dr, a humanitarian, a loving father, a husband and a friend. His life time earnings and asset in life are his four children and his wife. One son is a Professor in Ophthalmology, other is an agriculturist, Two daughters are educationist abroad.

June 2011-12

• Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology Leadership Program

December 2010-12

• MCPS in Medical Education, College of Physicians & Surgeons Pakistan

July 2007

• Advanced training in Surgical and Medical Retina

December 1999

• FRCOphth. (London)

October 1999

• Sub-Speciality Fellowship in Orbital, Plastics & Reconstructive Surgery, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.

May 1997

• FRCS (Ophthalmology), Edinburgh

October 1996

• MRCOphth. (London)

January 1993

• MBBS University of Punjab, King Edward Medical College, Lahore

July 1989

• B.Sc University of Punjab