Journalist passes away
HYDERABAD- The death of veteran journalist, Syed Akhtar Ali Shah, who was editor-in-chief of the daily “Pasban”, put an end to a glorious chapter of both the English and Urdu journalism of Hyderabad.
A scion of the famous Moti Mahal family, Syed Akhtar Ali Shah breathed his last at the Rajputana Hospital after a protracted ailment. He died at an age of 85 years.
Earlier, he felt severe chest pain and was taken to the Rajputana Hospital. He has left behind a widow, a son and a daughter.
Syed Akhter Ali Shah was born in the Nehar Sharief town of the Jaipur state of India on October 4, 1923 and had started his journalistic carrier from Delhi as a reporter of the “Star News”.
He migrated along with his entire family after the creation of Pakistan and settled in Hyderabad where he was appointed as the first Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) manager for the interior Sindh with headquarters at Hyderabad.
He was one of the real founders of the Hyderabad press club as the utility bills of the press club were issued in his name for considerable time.
With his assumption of the charge of the APP office at the Society intersection, the office gave a look like the hub of social and political activities as it was visited daily by the commissioner and deputy commissioner of Hyderabad besides veteran politicians like Kazi Mohammad Akbar and Mir Rasool Bukhsh Khan Talpur.
Being a scion of the Moti Mahal family and the manager of APP, Akhtar was held in high esteem for he was the contemporary of the famous journalists of Hyderabad like Chacha Qamar Zaman Khan of “Dawn”, Iqbal Hamid of “Jang”, F.M. Qureshi of “Morning News”, Badar Jalnavi of “Imroz”, Saleem Qureshi of “Pakistan Times” and Syed Musharraf Raza of “Basharat”.
The political activities of the Moti Mahal were largely due to Hafiz Mubarak Ali Shah, K.B. Jafar and the uncles of Syed Akhtar Ali Shah. The place was also the headquarters of the Pakistan Muslim League and late Pir Ali Mohammad Rashidi, a prominent Muslim League leader, used to visit Moti Mahal more often.
Source: Dawn
Date:7/21/2001
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