Veteran Journalist Arif Shaikh passes away

Aurangabad, March 8:

Veteran journalist Arif Shaikh died of a brief illness today at 5 pm. He was 70.

His Namaz-e-Janaza was prayed at Masjid Ganj-e-Shaheedan (Baijipura) at around 10.30 pm, while the burial took place in the graveyard opposite the mosque.

He is survived by his wife, two sons - Dr Mukhtar Shaikh and Ifteqar Shaikh - and one daughter.

The departed soul, during his 40 years long career, had worked in English, Hindi, Marathi and Urdu journalism. He started his career with Ajintha Daily (in 1970) and had worked in several dailies like Marathwada, Aurangabad Times, Indian Express (for over 15 years), Mid Day (Mumbai), apart from United News of India (UNI). He had also worked for a Hindi, Daily Citizens, and had also launched an English language weekly Public Express.

He was the recipient of many state and district-level awards for excellence in journalism, apart from the lifetime achievement award.