After APP published photos of Naseer Soomro and Haq Nawaz in successive weeks, ATP decided to jump on the tall guy bandwagon.
The Tall Guys of Pakistan
Owais Mughal
Pakistan has been home to several people of extra ordinary heights.
While we celebrate and note some of them here we also want to bring to
limelight the difficulties these extraordinary men and women have to
face in the society, where by people sometimes treat them as objects of
amusement.
Ajaz Ahmed: 7 feet 10 inches
At 7 feet 10 inches, Ajaz Ahmed is the current tallest man in Pakistan.
He claims to be 8 feet 4 inches tall but it is not confirmed yet. His
photo can be seen below.
Ajaz was born in 1976. He hails from Bhakkar - Darya Khan area of Pakistan.
Naseer Soomro: 7 feet 8 inches
Naseer is featured in the left title photo of this post. He is seen
there with Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr. Yousuf Raza Gilani when he
was invited to the PM House on March 15, 2010. The photo is a cropped
version of a larger group photo which can be seen here. Naseer is
currently the second tallest man in Pakistan. He hails from Shikarpur
Pakistan.
In 1999 Naseer Soomro was sent to UK by Government of Pakistan, as an
unofficial ambassador of Pakistan to watch matches of Cricket World
Cup. Naseer has been quoted to say that he has instructions from police
in both Shikarpur and Karachi to not to go out on weekend because they
have difficulty in controlling crowds that gather to see him.
This fact also brings to limelight the difficulties these men have to
face in our society, where people sometimes may treat them as objects
of amusement.
(late) Haji Muhammad Alam Channa: 7 feet 8 inches
I guess many of us will remember another 7 ft 8 inch tall Pakistani by
the name of Alam Channa who hailed from Sehwan. Photo is to the left.
He was born in 1953 and passed away in 1998. He worked at the shrine of
Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan. Alam Channa married a lady named Naseem
in 1989. I remember that he used to drive a Suzuki FX which was
especially retrofitted for him by removing the driving seat. He used to
sit on the back seat and drive. I found this web page which shows 13
photos of Alam Channa (see here). In 1998, owing to deteriorating
health he was sent to US by the Government of Pakistan for medical
treatment. He passed away in New York on July 4, 1998.
Haq Nawaz: 7 feet 7 inches
The title photo to the right shows 7 feet 7 inch tall Haq Nawaz of
Bahawalpur in MCC Ground Multan on March 30, 2010. Some websites note
his height as 7′5″. So while we cannot confirm his height for sure,
with +/- 2 inches, he is still the third tallest man in Pakistan. Seen
next to him in this photo is a 16 year old boy named Tayyab. See the
larger uncropped photo here.
Aurangzeb Khan: 7 feet 6 inches
Aurangzeb originally hails from Punjab, Pakistan. At 7 feet 6 inches
height he also makes up to our list here. The following video report
put his weight at 400lb and a shoe size of 20.
Azad Khan Masood: 7 feet 5 inches
Azad Khan is Pakistan’s fourth tallest man. He hails from Sararogha
near Dera Ismail Khan in Pakistan’s NWFP province. Some source claim
that he is married to the tallest woman of Pakistan, Zainab Bibi - but
this claim is unconfirmed. Photo to the left shows Azad Khan Masood
with Zainab Bibi. We will introduce Zainab Bibi in a bit as the tallest
lady from Pakistan. For a while Azad Khan was employed as a sports
officer in PIA. Azad is the second eldest among three sisters and three
brothers. He is the only person with extraordinary height in his family.
Muhammad Riaz: 7 feet 3 inches
At 7 feet 3 inches tall, Muhammad Riaz’s rank comes as 5th among the
tallest Pakistanis. In the photo below he is shown to the right. The
tall person on the left is Azad Khan Masood.
Zainab Bibi: 7 feet 2 inches
Pakistan was also home to one of the tallest woman in the world. Her
name is Zainab Bibi. We had an earlier post dedicated to her. See here.
Her height has also been quoted at different websites from 6 feet 10
inches to 7 feet 2 inches. Still, she is the tallest woman from
Pakistan.
Muhammad Irfan: 7 feet and 1 inches
Mohammad Irfan (photo to the right) is currently the tallest
first-class cricketer in Pakistan. He was born in Guggu Mandi - Punjab
in 1982. He represented KRL and Multan Tigers cricket teams in
Pakistan’s 2009-10 domestic season. There is some controversy to his
height. PCB has measured him anywhere from 6′8″, 6′10″ to 7′1″. He
himself claims to be at 7′2″. I also want to mention that previous
tallest first class cricketers in the world were Joel Garner (WI) and
Bruce Reid (Aus) both with 6′8″ height.

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