KARACHI, Feb 22: Senior journalist Abdul Rashid Khan alias Rashid Niaz passed away on Wednesday morning at the Liaquat National Hospital. He was 64. He has left behind his mother, besides widow, a daughter and a son.

His funeral was attended by a large number of his relatives, friends, senior journalists, besides office-bearers of the Karachi Press Club. He was laid to rest in Yasinabad graveyard in the afternoon.

Soyem will be held after Friday prayers at Ghausia Masjid, Dastagir Society, Block 9, F B Area. Arrangements for ladies have been made at his residence, R/71, Dastagir Society, Block 9, F B Area.

Rashid Niaz was suffering from cancer which was detected in the terminal stage. A man of great wit and courage, Rashid Niaz gave a tough fight to the deadly ailment. Despite his rapidly deteriorating health, he kept on attending the office until his family and friends compelled him last month to take rest.

Born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India, Rashid Niaz’s family migrated in 1951 to Hyderabad, Sindh. He was a graduate of the 1961 batch of the University of Sindh. Later, he did Masters in three subjects — General History in 1963, Urdu in 1965 and Social Work in 1967 — from the same University. In 1969, he added another feather to his cap by becoming a law graduate.

He started his career in journalism in 1965 with Indus Times, Hyderabad. But after closure of the paper, he shifted to Karachi and joined Dawn in 1975 as a sub-editor. In view of his inclination towards sports, he was transferred to the sports desk of Dawn where he worked till his death. While working for Dawn, he also contributed articles to the sports pages of the Urdu daily Hurriyet which were lifted by many Urdu newspapers in India.

Rashid Niaz had a long list of friends who included luminaries of literature and arts, top government officials and leading doctors. He, however, never exploited his connections for any personal gain.

Rashid Niaz was known as ‘an encyclopaedia’ of Urdu poetry of all sorts, especially serious and humorous. Very few people could match his wit and promptness. Rashid Niaz was incomplete without that and he took that trait with him to the grave.

He was an honest and committed journalist with strong sense of self-respect and dignity. Rashid Niaz was an idealist who used to hate time servers.