Veteran journalist, writer and scholar Shaikh Aziz passed away in Karachi at the age of 79 on Sunday.

Aziz suffered a heart attack on the Super Highway near Nooriabad on Sunday morning and was taken to Hyderabad where adequate facilities were unavailable. His family then transported him to Agha Khan University Hospital in Karachi, where an angioplasty was carried out.

He met and spoke with his family but later in the day, his heart stopped beating and he passed away, his son Tariq Aziz told Dawn.

Born in Hyderabad on Dec 9, 1938, Aziz received his early education in the city and went on to acquire a diploma in jouralism from the Thomson College of Journalism in London in 1968.

Shaikh Aziz worked at the daily Dawn from 1989 to 2008 and continued to write up until this year. Prior to this, he worked at the Daily Hurriyat, Jang, Daily Sindh News, Weekly Sindh Observer, the Daily Ibrat, and the Daily Karwan.

He received the Taraqi Pasand Literary Award in 2001, and the Diplace Excellence Award of Journalism in 2000.

He also served as president of the Hyderabad Press Club in 1963 and 1966, the president of the Hyderabad Union of Journalists in 1974 and a judge at the All Pakistan Newspaper Society from 1998-2004.

He published a number of research papers and books, including Political History of Pakistan (Post-Independence Era), An Illustrated Historical Atlas of Soomra Kingdom of Sindh, Bhutto ─ Memoirs and Remembrances, A History of Sindhi Literature, and The Origin and Evolution of Sindhi Music.

His last professional appointment was as vice-chairman of the Sindh Adabi Board.

Aziz's funeral prayers will be held at KDA Overseas Bungalows Block 17 Gulistan-i-Jauhar at 1pm on Monday Oct 8.