Among the winners of Hilal-e-Imtiaz, Pakistan’s second-highest civilian award, announced by President Asif Ali Zardari on the Pakistani Independence Day on August 14, 2024 were gynecologist Dr Zeryab Setna and artist Jimmy Engineer. The news item in the September issue of What’s On, the newsletter of the Karachi Zarthosti Banu Mandal, commended Setna for his "dedication and capability,” and Engineer for his "continuous altruism and international renown in art.”
The Hilal-e-Imtiaz recognizes individuals who have made an "especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of Pakistan, world peace, cultural or other significant public endeavors,” noted Wikipedia. The award comprises a disc of golden jasminum between the five points of a pure gold star and at its center lies a green emerald with a golden crescent. The honor will be conferred by Zardari on Pakistan Day, March 23, 2025 in Islamabad.
Medical superintendent at The Lady Dufferin Hospital, one of Pakistan’s largest charity maternity hospitals, in the 12 years since he returned from the UK, Setna has been credited with expanding the medical team at the Hospital and raising significant funds to build new infrastructure and introduce specialties at the 130-year-old institution. The state-of-the-art medical facility providing obstetric, gynecological and neo-natal pediatric services is known to offer the same level of top quality medical care at highly subsidized rates to all women regardless of their socioeconomic background.
Clockwise from above l : The Lady Dufferin Hospital in Karachi; Dr Zeryab Setna;
Hilal-e-Imtiaz award; Jimmy Engineer and his painting on the 1947 partition
The award will "definitely raise the profile of the Hospital and its popularity,” Setna told Parsiana. Among all the doctors featured on the Hospital website, 55-year-old Setna is the only Zoroastrian. "His parents (Dinar and the late Dr Faridon), his love for the country and need to give back to the people” brought him back to Karachi, stated Zeryab’s wife Rashna. It was at this same Hospital that Faridon, also a popular gynecologist, had served as a respected medical superintendent for more than four decades.
With community numbers continuously dwindling in Pakistan, the number of Parsi doctors is declining too. "Parsis and other minorities have enriched the nation and losing so many of them to other countries has been to our detriment. It is a major loss to the social fabric of our country,” believes Zeryab.
After his formative education at the Karachi Grammar School, Zeryab completed his MBBS from the Dow Medical College in Karachi before proceeding to the UK to qualify as a Member and later as a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. He was consultant at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals, National Health Service Trust in the UK before he returned to Karachi. Of his two brothers, Kurush is a doctor at Brown University, Rhode Island, USA while Izdeyar is an award winning photographer. Zeryab and Rashna (née Minwalla) have two sons, Raizaan and Kayhaan.
A practicing Zoroastrian who gives "great importance to prayers and religious ceremonies and for whom his faith is a cornerstone of his life,” Zeryab takes pride in the largesse of Parsis that has resulted in so many hospitals, schools and housing colonies. In fact, the Lady Dufferin Hospital in Karachi was established with a donation of Rs 1,00,000 from the Dinshaw family that resulted in the laying of the foundation stone of the Eduljee Dinshaw Wing in 1894. Twenty years later the foundation stone was laid for the Katrak Maternity Wing with a generous donation of Rs 70,000 from another philanthropic family.
The Hospital website has a lengthy section on Zakat (obligatory annual donation of a percentage of one’s wealth to charity as prescribed by Islam), reiterating the importance of philanthropy. According to Zeryab, "Pakistanis are charitable and give generously to various causes. This results in continuous donations to the Hospital.”
Decorated with over 120 awards and medals in Pakistan and overseas, Engineer views himself as "The Son of Pakistan” and "Servant of Pakistan.” Immersed in art since the age of 22, Engineer who is now 70 years old has held more than 120 exhibitions in Pakistan and other countries, completed over 3,000 paintings, 1,000 abstract and 1,000 calligraphy works besides 1,500 drawings. Nearly 7,00,000 of his prints on canvas are in private collections in more than 60 countries, according to his website.
He has painted on a variety of themes, done landscapes and seascapes, miniatures and portraits, cultural, religious, philosophical and historical paintings. His canvases on the 1947 partition of India depict in graphic detail the suffering, bloodshed and sacrifices that ushered the birth of Pakistan. "This pioneering effort is intended to capture the imagination of successive generations of Pakistanis and imbue them with a similar urge and desire for sacrifice and dedication to the country. These canvases and murals have… won him fame and fortune. The latter he spends generously on charitable work and is content to lead an ascetic life,” notes the website.
Convinced that being a good human being is better than being a great artist, his creations reflect his compassion for the downtrodden. He has led more than 200 walks for noble causes and arranged more than 260 awareness programs for the handicapped and orphans.
Born in Lorali, Baluchistan, Engineer is an alumnus of St Anthony’s High School and Forman Christian College, Lahore after which he spent three years at the National College of Arts and became a professional artist.