Transition: Veteran journalist passes away

Lala Amir Siddiqui was the pioneer of a news agency in K-P and tribal areas.

PESHAWAR: Veteran journalist Lala Amir Ahmed Siddiqui passed away on Wednesday in the provincial capital at the age of 84.

He is survived by seven sons and two daughters. Siddiqui was born on March 23, 1931 in Namak Mandi, Peshawar.

He completed his early education from the then Islamia High School–now Government High School No 3.

Along with his father, he established a news agency in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the tribal belt before Partition which is still functioning.

Three of his sons — Atiq Ahmed Siddiqui, Intikhab Amir and Faiq Amir — are working as journalists while his other son, Ishraq Amir, is running one of his father’s agencies in Peshawar.

Siddiqui firmly believed in the political ideology of the Pakistan Muslim League and was a companion of Abdul Qayyum Khan.

His funeral prayers will be held on Thursday morning (today) at 11am at Khushal Khan Park, Babu Garhi on Warsak Road.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 26^th, 2015.