Veteran journalist Shakoor passes away
KARACHI- Veteran journalist M. A. Shakoor breathed his last on Wednesday morning at his residence in Sharafabad after a prolonged illness. He was 90. Burial will take place on Friday after Juma prayers, his family sources said.
Widely known for his integrity and professional competence, Shakoor Saheb, was highly admired and respected among his fellow journalists and also among those who came to know him in late years.
M.A. Shakoor was born in November 1911 in Tranvencore state, now part of Kerala in South India. He matriculated in Travendrum and graduated in first division from the Madras University. He joined the Aligarh Muslim University in 1939 and did his MA in English literature in first division and also obtained a law degree.
After doing a short course in journalism at the Aligarh University, he joined the Orient Press of India, the first Muslim news agency in the subcontinent, in 1942. In October of the same year, he joined Dawn on the advice of Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan. After working for some time at the desk of the paper, he got employed with Morning News in Calcutta. Seven months later he joined the Statesman.
In 1946, Mr Shakoor brought out his own daily ‘Comrade’, which could not survive beyond a few months for lack of finances. When Progressive Papers Ltd in Lahore launched the daily Pakistan Times, he was invited to work for it. Shortly thereafter, he came over to Karachi to join the Pakistan Herald. The daily was soon renamed Dawn and he served it till 1954, his longest stint in any particular news organization.
In and around 1954, when the Muslim League government became obsessed with the ‘danger of communism’ and launched a witchhunt against progressive elements in the country, Shakoor Saheb, along with some other colleagues and political workers, was arrested and sent to jail. During his imprisonment, he suffered a great deal and after his release, he left the country out of frustration and despair.
Shakoor Saheb then settled in London and worked for the Pakistan Times and also did free-lancing for some time. Finally, he took up teaching. About five years back he returned to Karachi.
Shakoor Saheb had been ailing for about four years. He had started writing his reminiscences a few years back, but could not continue it and died with his ambition unfulfilled.
Source: Dawn
Date:1/18/2001
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