KARACHI: People come and go but there are very few whose memory never fades was a general perception of speakers and participants at the condolence reference held for Zaheer Ahmed Khan in Dawn’s Newsroom on Friday.

Nizamuddin Siddiqui describing the sweetness and compassion of the deceased recited a few couplets of Ghalib expressing the short life he lived.

Afzal Blaoch, another colleague, unveiling a part of the personality of Zaheer Khan, recalled how the deceased used to spend nights in a hospital corridor when one of the colleagues was in the ICU.

Muhammad Ali Siddiqui praised Zaheer Khan for his unrelenting help to his colleagues and appealed for the renewal of the Health Insurance Card issued by the Karachi Union of Journalists, which the deceased had managed to get for all his colleagues.

Pakistan Herald Workers Union Secretary General Shafiuddin Ashraf said that the cool and composed temperament of Zaheer Khan made him a friend of all, and applauded the services he rendered for the cause of the union.

The Dawn Editor highly regarded the warmth and affection displayed by Zaheer Khan in his interaction with him and other colleagues. He said Zaheer Khan often visited him but it used to be for the welfare of colleagues. The deceased, he pointed out, never ever sought a favour for himself or ever displayed any disrespect even if it was handing over some protest resolution.

The meeting was conducted by Shahid Iqbal and attended by a great number of colleagues.

Published in Dawn September 10th, 2016