Mukhtar Masood dies

LAHORE

Former Federal Secretary and renowned poet Mukhtar Masood passed away on Saturday in Lahore.

The funeral prayer of Masood will be held at 8pm. in Shadmaan-2 mosque, Lahore.

Mukhtar Masood had been awarded Sitara-i-Imtiaz, one of the highest civil awards by the government of Pakistan. He was among the very few graduates of Sir Syed’s Muslim University Aligarh who completed the studies from class one to M.A. at the same place. Masood succeeded in the civil service competitive exam held in January 1949. After getting into the Superior Services, he gradually rose to become a commissioner, federal secretary, chairman of the Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) and Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan (ADBP) and Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD). Masood had also served as a member of the selection board of the Punjab University.

He has also written the following books:-

Awaz-e-Dost (1973), a first-hand account of the creation of Pakistan.

Safar-e-Naseeb (1981), a travelogue.

Loh-e-Ayyam (1996), a first-hand account of the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

Meanwhile, President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif have expressed deep grief and sorrow over the demise of renowned writer and intellectual Mukhtar Masood. In their messages they  prayed to Almighty Allah to rest his soul in eternal peace and give courage to his bereaved family to bear the loss with fortitude. They said the literary services of the late Mukhtar Masood would be remembered for long as he had introduced new trends in literature.