Eminent journalist, poet Farhad Zaidi passes away

KARACHI: Eminent journalist, scholar and poet Farhad Zaidi passed away at the age of 91 in Karachi on Friday. Born in 1931, Zaidi played a long and distinguished innings and was known for his professionalism, decency and integrity.

Zaidi’s funeral prayers were held at Masjid-o-Imambargah Yasrab, Phase 4, Defence Housing Authority (DHA) after Maghrib prayers. He was laid to rest at DHA's Phase 8 graveyard.

He is survived by his widow - Mussarat Jabeen, a veteran journalist who was associated with Akhbar-e-Khawateen, Jang and Mashriq - and two sons Hasan Zaidi and Ali Faisal Zaidi - both also prominent journalists.

Among many senior positions he held, Farhad Zaidi was the Editor of The Muslim, the influential Islamabad English daily, and Hurriyet, the Urdu newspaper then part of the Dawn Group. He was the Managing Director of Pakistan Television in the nineties. Zaidi was also the President of the All-Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) and the vice president of the Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi.

As a staunch defender of press freedom and democratic values, he was arrested in 1978 in Lahore for protesting against the harsh restrictions placed on the media by the Zia dictatorship.

Many remember Zaidi’s wit and wisdom as the host of a series of interviews with party heads on PTV during the 1970 polls and in subsequent elections.

PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari expressed deep sorrow over the journalist’s death and extended his condolences to his family saying that the nation had been deprived of a progressive scholar.

“Farhad Zaidi served the country and democracy through his writings and poetry,” he said. Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Karachi administrator Murtaza Wahab, the PPP central secretariat information Shazia Marri also expressed their grief over the death of the senior journalist Zaidi.