English: This is indeed another sad day in the history of this Senedd. Oh, what can I say about my friend Mohammad Asghar? It's hard to believe that he's gone. I first got to know Oscar properly on the Finance Committee - on a trip, actually, a visit to Sweden back in around 2009, I think it was. We bonded over a cup of tea in a hotel lobby. Oscar loved his tea. In fact, he drank copious amounts of it most of the time, as many of you will remember from breaks from business spent with him in the Members' tea room, when a large pot of tea would be ordered, would be constantly kept filled, and the stories would flow, along with the contents of the pot. Oscar had led a full and interesting life. Born in Peshawar in what was then British India in 1945, his first memories were of partition, and his memories of the upheaval and unrest that ensued stayed with him all his life and were key to forming his views later in life. He thought partition was a mistake; he thought people should always do their best to find common ground. 'We should always focus on what unites us rather than what divides us' - Oscar constantly told me that. Over the years, he became a personal friend, he became a family friend, and his joy when Jen and I got engaged and married, and later on, when our son James came along, knew no bounds. I often felt that I was talking to a parent or a father, rather than a friend when I spoke to Oscar. When we got married, he even offered to drive the wedding car, and I think he would have flown me to the church, if I'd wanted him to. This brings me on to some lesser known facts about Oscar's life. They include him carrying the Olympic torch across India in advance of the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. I didn't quite believe it until he produced a very old black-and-white photo of a younger Oscar proudly holding the torch. He had a pilot's licence, as others have mentioned. He once told me that his brothers were in the Pakistan air force. Anyone who visited Oscar and Firdaus's home in Newport could not help but notice and have to find their way around an enormous model of Concorde that took pride of place in his living room. He loved flying. He hadn't followed his family into that professionally, his life would take a different route, it would bring him to Wales, it would bring him into politics. Oscar was proud to be a Member of this Senedd, and as an accountant, he took his role on the Public Accounts Committee very seriously. In fact, he was one of its longest serving Members, and he'll be sorely missed by myself as Chair, the members of the committee and the rest of the clerking team. A man of faith, Oscar was a proud British Muslim who loved and respected all faiths, and they respected him. He was particularly close to Ahmadiyya Muslims and when I asked him why that was, he once told me how, when he was born, his mother had been unwell and had been unable to care for him, and an Ahmadiyyan mother had stepped in and cared for him in those first few days when she was unable to. It was an act of love that he never forgot, and throughout his life, he always supported Ahmadiyyans. That was something about Oscar - he always remembered a good turn, and he always paid it back in heaps. It was mentioned by Mark Reckless, I think, that he was a proud royalist, and he was. I remember at the official opening of the Assembly in 2007, he was very eager to meet the Queen, and when he did, it was quite clear that he'd met her before, and as they were talking to each other, it became clear that she certainly recognised him and knew him. He had a reach across society. He could speak to people of all walks of life; he got on with them, and they got on with him. Today is a difficult day for all of us who knew Oscar and considered him to be a friend, and a close friend. It is, of course, especially difficult for Firdaus, Natasha and his family, and our thoughts are with them particularly today. The Ahmadiyya Muslims have a saying, 'Love for all, hatred for none.' As we remember our colleague and friend Mohammad Asghar, let us remember that saying too. Let us always build on what unites us, rather than what divides us, and let that be Oscar's legacy.
Welsh: Mae hwn yn wir yn ddiwrnod trist arall yn hanes y Senedd hon. O, beth allaf ei ddweud am fy nghyfaill Mohammad Asghar? Mae'n anodd credu ei fod wedi mynd. Deuthum i adnabod Oscar yn iawn gyntaf ar y Pwyllgor Cyllid - ar daith, mewn gwirionedd, ar ymweliad â Sweden yn ôl oddeutu 2009, rwy'n credu oedd hi. Daethom yn gyfeillion dros baned o de mewn lobi gwesty. Roedd Oscar yn hoff o'i de. A dweud y gwir, roedd yn yfed llawer iawn ohono y rhan fwyaf o'r amser, fel y cofia llawer ohonoch o amseroedd egwyl a dreuliwyd gydag ef yn ystafell de'r Aelodau, pan gâi debot mawr o de ei archebu, ei lenwi'n gyson, a byddai'r straeon yn llifo, ynghyd â chynnwys y tebot. Roedd Oscar wedi byw bywyd llawn a diddorol. Cafodd ei eni yn Peshawar yn yr hyn a oedd bryd hynny yn India Brydeinig yn 1945, ei atgofion cyntaf oedd o'r ymraniad, ac arhosodd ei atgofion am y cynnwrf a'r aflonyddwch a ddilynodd gydag ef gydol ei oes ac roeddent yn allweddol yn ffurfio ei farn yn ddiweddarach mewn bywyd. Meddyliai fod yr ymraniad yn gamgymeriad; credai y dylai pobl wastad wneud eu gorau i ganfod tir cyffredin. 'Dylem bob amser ganolbwyntio ar yr hyn sy'n ein huno yn hytrach na'r hyn sy'n ein rhannu' - dywedodd Oscar hynny wrthyf yn gyson. Dros y blynyddoedd, daeth yn gyfaill personol, daeth yn gyfaill i'r teulu, ac nid oedd terfynau i'w lawenydd pan fu i Jen a minnau ddyweddïo a phriodi, ac yn ddiweddarach, pan anwyd ein mab James. Teimlais yn aml fy mod yn siarad â rhiant neu dad, yn hytrach na chyfaill pan siaradwn ag Oscar. Pan oeddem ni'n priodi, cynigiodd hyd yn oed i yrru'r car priodas, ac rwy'n credu y byddai wedi fy nghludo mewn awyren i'r eglwys, pe bawn i wedi dymuno iddo wneud hynny. Daw hyn â mi at ffeithiau llai hysbys am fywyd Oscar. Maent yn ei gynnwys yntau'n cludo'r ffagl Olympaidd ar draws India cyn Gemau Olympaidd 1964 yn Tokyo. Doeddwn i ddim yn credu'n hollol nes iddo ddangos llun du a gwyn hen iawn o Oscar iau yn dal y ffagl gyda balchder. Cafodd drwydded beilot, fel y mae eraill wedi sôn. Dywedodd wrthyf unwaith fod ei frodyr yn awyrlu Pacistan. Ni allai unrhyw un a fu'n ymweld â chartref Oscar a Firdaus yng Nghasnewydd ond sylwi a gorfod ffeindio'u ffordd o amgylch model o Concorde enfawr a oedd yn ganolbwynt ei ystafell fyw. Roedd wrth ei fodd yn hedfan. Ni ddilynodd ei deulu i'r maes hwnnw'n broffesiynol, byddai ei fywyd yn mynd ar drywydd gwahanol, byddai'n dod ag ef i Gymru, byddai'n dod ag ef i mewn i wleidyddiaeth. Roedd Oscar yn falch o fod yn aelod o'r Senedd hon, ac fel cyfrifydd, roedd yn hollol o ddifrif ynghylch ei swyddogaeth ar y Pwyllgor Cyfrifon Cyhoeddus. Yn wir, ef oedd un o'i Aelodau mwyaf hirhoedlog, a bydd hiraeth mawr gennyf i, aelodau'r pwyllgor a gweddill y tîm clercio ar ei ôl fel Cadeirydd. Roedd Oscar yn ddyn o ffydd, yn Fwslim Prydeinig balch a oedd yn caru ac yn parchu pob ffydd, ac roedden nhw'n ei barchu yntau. Roedd yn arbennig o agos at Fwslemiaid Ahmadiyya a phan ofynnais iddo pam oedd hynny, dywedodd wrthyf unwaith, pan gafodd ei eni, roedd ei fam wedi bod yn sâl ac wedi methu â gofalu amdano, a daeth mam o'r ffydd Ahmadiyyaidd i'r adwy a gofalu amdano yn y dyddiau cyntaf hynny pan na allai hi. Gweithred o gariad ydoedd nad anghofiodd erioed, a thrwy gydol ei oes, roedd bob amser yn cefnogi'r Ahmadiyyaid. Rhywbeth am Oscar oedd hynny - roedd wastad yn cofio tro da, ac roedd wastad yn ad-dalu'r gymwynas yn hael. Mark Reckless a soniodd, rwy'n credu, ei fod yn frenhinwr balch, ac yr oedd. Cofiaf yn agoriad swyddogol y Cynulliad yn 2007, ei fod yn awyddus iawn i gyfarfod â'r Frenhines, a phan wnaeth hynny, roedd yn eithaf clir ei fod wedi cwrdd â hi o'r blaen, ac wrth iddynt ymgomio, daeth yn amlwg ei bod yn sicr yn ei gofio ac yn ei adnabod. Roedd yn rhychwantu pob haen o gymdeithas. Gallai siarad â phobl o bob cefndir; roedd yn cyd-dynnu â nhw, a hwythau'n cyd-dynnu ag yntau. Mae heddiw yn ddiwrnod anodd i bob un ohonom ni a oedd yn adnabod Oscar ac yn ei ystyried yn gyfaill, ac yn gyfaill agos. Wrth gwrs, mae'n arbennig o anodd i Firdaus, Natasha a'i deulu, ac rydym yn cydymdeimlo â nhw yn arbennig heddiw. Mae gan yr Ahmadiyyaid Mwslemaidd ddywediad, 'Cariad at bawb, casineb at neb.' Wrth inni gofio am ein cyd-Aelod a'n cyfaill Mohammad Asghar, gadewch inni gofio'r dywediad hwnnw hefyd. Gadewch inni bob amser adeiladu ar yr hyn sy'n ein huno, yn hytrach na'r hyn sy'n ein gwahanu, a boed i hynny fod yn waddol Oscar.