KARACHI, Feb 22: Literary and educational organizations on Tuesday paid tribute to Mushfiq Khawaja, who died on Monday night at the age of 69.

At a condolence meeting organized by the Anjuman Taraqui Urdu, noted columnist Jamiluddin Aali said Mr Khawaja was one of the leading research scholars of the current era.

He recalled that he had enjoyed Mr Khawaja's association since 1958. All the members of the Anjuman prayed that Mr Khawaja's soul might rest in peace. Similarly, the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology also held a condolence meeting on Tuesday.

The vice chancellor of the university, Dr Iqbal Mohsin, threw light on the literary services rendered by Mr Khawaja. He said the late scholar was one of the most towering personalities of Urdu literature. He said Mr Khawaja's death was an irreparable loss to Urdu literature.

Many teachers of the university attended the meeting and prayed for the departed. The Urdu department of the University of Karachi also held a condolence meeting at which it passed a resolution praising the works of Mr Khawaja.

According to the resolution, Mr Khawaja had recently edited the diary kept by his father, Khawaja Abdul Waheed, and a book on old Lucknow poet Mirza Sulaiman Shikoh. The resolution expressed grief at the fact that he did not live long to see the books which were being published these days.

The resolution says that some of the great research works done by Mr Khawaja included "Kuliyat-i-Yagana", "Tazkirah-i-khush marka-i-zaiba" and "Jaiza-i-Urdu mukhtutat". According to a press release of the Pakistan Academy of Letters, chairman Iftikhar Arif expressed sorrow over the death of Mr Khawaja on Monday night. "Mr Khawaja was extremely good at selecting scholarly books and manuscripts. He recently compiled an excellent book on Yaas Yagana Changezi," he said.