Condolence reference: Journalists remember IH Raashid

Say his struggle for press freedom must not be forgotten.

LAHORE:

Speakers at a condolence reference at the Lahore Press Club on Friday paid tribute to journalist and union leader Irshadul Hussain Raashid at the Lahore Press Club.

Khawar Naeem Hashmi said, “It was an honour for me to work with him.”

He said Raashid had been his mentor in the struggle for freedom of press.

Journalist Aurangzeb said, “Raashid struggled for the welfare of the journalists’ community without any fear. He led movements against the regimes of Ayub Khan and General Ziaul Haq. He was a visionary and has left behind a vacuum that could take years to fill.”

Journalist Hussain Naqi said, “It is an honour for our profession to have people like Raashid. Journalists have played a powerful role in restoration of democracy in the country. Raashid led the way.”

He reminisced about the time when Raashid fought for fair salaries and working conditions of his peers.



Journalist Anjum Rasheed, agreed with Hashmi. He said, “Raashid’s services and struggle for press freedom will not be forgotten. We owe freedom of the press to men like Raashid. He ranks among legendary leaders of journalists, along with Minhaj Burna and Nisar Osmani.”

Lahore Press Club President Arshad Ansari said, “Raashid was jailed but continued to work for journalists. We owe the press freedom to men like Raashid and his contemporaries.”

Muhammad Shahbaz Mian, the Lahore Press Club secretary, said that Raashid had worked as a journalist for over 60 years.

He said it was an honour for the Lahore Press Club to have arranged the condolence reference for him as he was an inspiration for journalists.

IH Rashid breathed his last on August 8.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 14^th, 2013.