S.R. GHAURI was a brave and courageous journalist who expressed his views in his sharply-worded columns and editorials. But I mourn his passing away on Sunday not just for his professionalism but for his sterling human qualities.

It was early Tuesday morning when a long distance call from my newspaper in Karachi gave me the sad news and asked to write a tribute to Mr Ghauri, a former Editor of Morning News and later a columnist at Dawn and the Editor of Herald.

The passing away of Ghauri Sahib was a personal loss to me as he was my former editor and also a great patron. Writing an obituary proved to be a bit of a challenge for me in those moments of gloom as I had not met or spoken to Ghauri Sahib for a very long time. Somehow I managed to revive old memories which suddenly started coming back.

The moment that immediately flashed before my eyes was in January 1972, days after the creation of Bangladesh, a tragic event that left Pakistan divided and me without a job.  Ghauri Sahib, whom I used to see every day at the Karachi Press Club, came to me and said, “Come to my office (Morning News) and start working as a reporter.”

I was then working for the Eastern News Agency (ENA) as a reporter. Veteran journalist Jawaid Bokhari had hired me in September 1971. Three months later the news agency closed down and I lost my monthly cheque of Rs150. Mr Ghauri was aware of my plight, but his greatness as a person was that he never asked me whether I needed a job — he just offered it.

Later that year Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s government forced Ghauri Sahib to resign from Morning News, which was a government-owned Press Trust newspaper. He was hired by Dawn as a columnist and Editor of the Herald. His columns in Dawn, which were harsh and critical of Mr Bhutto’s governance, became immensely popular.

He and Sultan Ahmed, his successor in Morning News, wrote contrasting columns in their respective newspapers. Their sparring through newspaper columns generated a lot of interest among readers.

While I continued to work for Morning News, Ghauri Sahib asked me to write for Herald to supplement my Rs260-a-month income.

The boost in my earnings was a life-saver. Since my articles in Herald had no slant for or against the Bhutto government — they were just about political landscape in Pakistan — Sultan Ahmed did not really object. For me Ghauri Sahib was a special person: He gave me hope when I thought all was lost.

In 1979 I left Pakistan to settle in the United States. Years later when I returned, Ghauri Sahib had also relocated himself.

Unfortunately I lost contact with him. It is also unfortunate that many contemporaries of Ghauri Sahib with whom he used to sit in the Karachi Press Club are also no longer in this world. They were the most appropriate personalities who could have paid a befitting tribute to an outstanding journalist and a great human being.

May his soul rest in peace.