Malik names TheNation slain staffer for Pride of Performance | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Malik names TheNation slain staffer for Pride of Performance

By: Harron Siraj

SWAT: Federal Interior Minister, Rehman Malik, in recognition of the sacrifice rendered by Siraj ud Din (Shaheed) for the cause of peace in Swat, has named him for Pride of Performance Award 2012.

Besides, Musa Khan Khel, a private TV reporter, Qari Muhammad Shoaib and Abdul Aziz, reporters of a local newspaper, were also announced for the award. He said they deserved due commendation, and the entire nation and people of Swat were proud of them.

The Federal Minister announced this during his visit to Swat Press Club the other day. He paid homage and tribute to the gallant and valiant heroes of journalism, who became martyred in the line of their duties during the war on terror in Swat.

Born in 1955 in Swat, Siraj ud Din (Shaheed) passed his matriculation from Government Wadudia High School Saidu Sharif. He did FA from Jehanzeb College and BA from MA English from University of Peshawar in 1973. He started his journalism career in 1983. He worked with TheNation, Islamabad since 2006 to 2008 as staff reporter. He was elected two times Vice Chairman and Vice President of Swat Press Club and Swat Union of Journalists respectively. He served as a journalist for 23 years.

On February 29, 2008, Siraj ud Din was attending the funeral prayer of DSP Javaid Iqbal, when a suicide bomber blew himself up. Siraj sustained multiple serious injuries and embraced martyrdom.

In the same bomb blast, 70 other innocent people embraced martyrdom, out of which five persons belonged to the family of Siraj ud Din.

The Nation