LAHORE, Oct 7: Veteran journalist Salahuddin Muhammad passed away at a private hospital here on Friday morning. He was 80 and undergoing treatment for dengue fever which could not be diagnosed in time.

Salahuddin Muhammad was an accomplished journalist who edited the Dhaka Times in then- East Pakistan. He had worked as a reporter at The Pakistan Times and the Pakistan Observer besides his stints at other newspapers. He had also brought out an Urdu newspaper from Dhaka.

Salahuddin Muhammad had served as the president of the East Pakistan Union of Journalists as well as secretary general of the Afro-Asian Solidarity.

He represented Pakistan at different international forums.

He has left behind his wife, seven daughters and a son.

Mr Salahuddin’s son Najaf Yawar is the chairman of the MBA department at the Government College University, Lahore. From among his daughters, Saadia Salahuddin is a senior member of The News on Sunday team in Lahore and her husband Ataul Musawwir is the Lahore editor for the Express Tribune.

Another of his daughters, Tauseef Salma is an acclaimed name in chemical engineering and has six patents to her credit.

Salma’s younger sister Rahat Kaunain is chairperson of the Competition Commission of Pakistan.

Saadia Salahuddin told Dawn her father was also a poet and his poetry was published in famous literary journals such as Fanoon and Muaasir.