ISLAMABAD, Nov 12: South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA), which is now meeting in Dhaka, has suffered an irreparable loss in the death of Enayetullah Khan, chief editor of Holiday, Dhaka’s most influential news weekly.

Enayetullah Khan (Mintu to his friends and enemies) was one of SAFMA’s most ardent supporters and ally and also a regular contributor in its prestigious quarterly journal.

He worked for a Pakistani English daily as well as Bengali newspaper Sangbad before establishing Holiday weekly newspaper which has held on for 38 years now.

Enayetullah would not tolerate military dictators, Ayub or Yahya Khan, of Pakistan, or even local Bengali ones, such as Mujibur Rahman, who sent him to jail for opposing the Baksal Party for introducing one party, one leader dictatorship in new BD.

He caught pancreatic cancer and went in May this year for cure to Montreal, Canada. He recovered for a while but his condition took a turn for the worse and was rushed to hospital last Wednesday.

He passed away on Thursday morning, at the age of 66.

Enayetullah was the son of National Assembly speaker late Justice (retd) Jabbar Khan who should have received the resignation letter from President Ayub Khan on March 25, 1969.