What an extraordinary occasion?

Prominent people of all segments of society had thronged to Kinnard College, Lahore, to pay respects to deceased Asad Abbas Sahi, Chief Reporter of a local TV, who expired recently due to cardiac failure at comparatively young age. Those whom God loves die young was true in case of the deceased journalist. Mohsin Naqvi was standing in a state of deep grief there all the times to accept the condolences of all and sundry, a great gesture indeed. I was very impressed with the exceptional demonstration of ownership and commitment by an organization and its head that arranged such a grand Quran Khawni for the departed soul.
Thousands of people were in attendance praying— God may bless the deceased with eternal peace and the bereaved family with fortitude to bear this irreparable loss. The journalist community of Lahore was in a state of loss on the passing away of Asad Sahi. It was the largest concentration of journalists at any event.
People from all walks of life were expressing their sentiments of grief on camera besides recording their impressions on the condolence book placed nearby. It can be safely said the condolence book contained the maximum number of commiserate messages clearly suggesting how popular he was among the people of all ilk. The mourners were standing in long queue and this continued the whole day. The deceased was blessed soul for whom so many people turned up to extend their condolences and also to join in a Dua to pray to All Mighty Allah to grant eternal peace to the departed soul. It was a very sad occasion for the friends, colleagues and his well wishers. The huge gathering of the people from the civil society including the government functionaries was seeing in believing.
The presence of journalists belonging to all media houses spoke in volumes how much they held the deceased in high esteem. It also explicitly implied appreciations for Mohsin Naqvi who was the moving spirit behind in orchestrating such a dignified and somber event.
His passion for the pursuit of news stories was second to none. He was always on the move to dig out the stories of public interest normally marred by the apathy of the public dealing departments. His chasing of the stories tinged with injustice inflicted by the administration was measured up to his humane temperament that was devoted to help out the less privileged. He would ensure that the victims were relieved of the fear and intimidation of the mandarins in the future as well. He was very well known for undertaking the imperatives of social responsibility which he practiced immensely with conviction during his entire professional life.
His pursuit deserves emulation and eulogisation because undertaking of social responsibility is an important component of professional journalism. The level of taking the social responsibility seriously by media also suggests the proportionate freedom of the press and indeed the integrated social development of the society.
I knew him when I was working in Lahore as director general public relations, Government of Punjab, and the director general, Press Information Department, Government of Pakistan, Lahore I found in him a strong inclination to excel without stepping on the heads of others. He proved my assessment right because he attained the panicles of professionalism with speed and quality and rose to the responsible position much earlier.
His style of projecting the news on the TV channel was original that appealed to the common man without the impediments of communication barriers. His connectivity with the man in the street was instantaneous making him to understand the whole perspective without the intricacies of the issues.
He was a versatile communicator of his own style meant for the audiences who were at the receiving end. He would prefer to highlight the common man problems without compromising the professional exigency of news. His journalistic career is full of surprises having strong bearings on ‘Breaking News’ and approval rating. He was coming up to the expectations of his organisation as an invaluable asset.
God may bless the departed soul, and fortitude to the journalist community to reconcile with this reality. Reality is, Asad Sahi “has traveled to the undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler returns”. But show must go on, and so robust journalism in Pakistan.