Veteran Pakistani journalist Akmal Aleemi passes away in Washington

NEW YORK: Eminent Pakistani journalist Syed Akmal Aleemi, who had a long career with Voice of America’s Urdu Service in Washington, D.C., has passed away, his family said on Tuesday.

Aleemi, 90, died of a heart attack. He was living with his family in Virginia.

After moving to the United States in early 1970s, Aleemi remained a prominent broadcaster for Voice of America’s radio programmes that informed his audiences of the United States and its culture, and included discussions on some key issues.

Iftikhar Ali, a longtime correspondent of Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), expressed his grief, saying Akmal Aleemi’s death is a blow to the Pakistani journalism.

“We first met in New York in November 1971 when he came from Washington to cover for VOA’s Urdu Service the historic UN Security Council sessions on the Bangladesh crisis,” he said.

“Together were covered several tense meetings amid intense diplomatic activities in U.N. lobbies, and even a public meeting addressed by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in New York’s Central park.

“As the Security Council meetings prolonged, Akmal had to return to Washington, to his regret, missed the final session when Mr. Bhutto stormed out of the Chamber denouncing the world body’s failure to stop the war, and was mobbed by hundreds of reporters, TV cameramen and photographers.”

Aleemi left the VOA in 2008 and the organization recognized his services with a special award, especially celebrating his 30 years of service for its widely attuned Urdu service.

In Pakistan, Aleemi worked for Urdu newspaper Imroz, which was a popular publication in the early 1960s.

He rose to the position of Chief Reporter of the paper and also contributed columns to it.

While in Washington D.C., Aleemi also advanced his love for Urdu literature and made several appearances at literary gatherings including those hosted by the Society of Urdu Literature.

He was recipient of several journalist awards and also authored books. Aleemi continued to contributed columns to an Urdu newspaper of Washington metro area after leaving the VOA in 2008.