Senior journalist Salim Asmi passes away

KARACHI: Senior journalist and former editor of daily Dawn Saleem Asmi passed away here on Saturday. He was 84.

Confirming his demise, the family said Asmi had been suffering from some serious ailments for some time.

The announcement of his funeral prayers will be made once his two sons return from abroad, according to Arman Sabir, Secretary of the Karachi Press Club.

Asmi was born on November 29, 1934, in Jhansi but he spent his formative years in Delhi. After Partition, his father migrated to Pakistan and settled in Hyderabad, where he completed his school education. Later, the family moved to Karachi and Asmi did his Masters in English literature from the University of Karachi.

During his studies in college and university, Asmi played an active role in left-leaning student politics under the banner of the Democratic Students Federation (DSF) and the National Students Federation (NSF).

According to his colleagues, Asmi began his journalistic career in 1959 after completing his education. His first job was at The Times of Karachi as a trainee sub-editor and latter became city editor of The Pakistan Times.

As a member of the core team in the early 1980s, Asmi designed. During Ziaul Haq’s regime, he was sentenced to imprisonment. Later, he moved to Dubai to become the news editor of the Khaleej Times. In 1988 he returned and joined Dawn where he served as its news editor, a position he continued to hold till he was elevated as its Editor in March 2000. He retired in 2003.

Asmi’s old friend and connoisseur of art and music S.M. Shahid managed to compile a selection of his writings under the title: Saleem Asmi –Interviews, Article, Reviews.

During his stint as editor Dawn, he decided to publish Osama bin Laden’s interview by senior journalist and anchorperson Hamid Mir, even though the latter was not the paper’s staffer. Mir said in a tweet on Saturday that Asmi supported him in getting his interview with Osama bin Laden published. “When I interviewed Osama bin Laden in Nov 2001, my paper was reluctant to publish it I gave it to Dawn. Musharraf regime tried to stop the interview from being published. Asmi told me to switch off my phone and disappear and I will handle it. The next day it was published,” Mir said.

Asmi had also served as the president of the Karachi Press Club twice from 1991-93.

Several senior journalists and politicians offered condolences over the demise of Asmi. Information Minister Shibli Faraz said journalism had lost a "shining star". Pakistan People Party's Senator Sherry Rehman said Asmi carried "exceptional courage around him like a casual accessory, never talking about it, just using it when needed".