This picture of Ghulam Farooq, Editor – in-Chief Daily Shumal Swat, was taken on 9th December 2023 at 1:53 PM on his dialysis bed, while his son Abdullah tried to wake him up to meet his favorite surgeon, Dr. Nadir Hussain, whom he had spoken about earlier, and whom we incidentally met at the elevator entrance on the way to level 5 to meet Dr. Shaukat Bangash, CEO of Quaid I Azam Hospital. With a heavy heart, I share the sad news of the demise of Ghulam Farooq, owner of Daily Shumal, one of the oldest newspapers in the country. It was another senior-most Lahore-based journalist, Honourable Qazi Mansha, through whom I had the honor to meet the late Ghulam Farooq at his newspaper office in Mingora two years ago.
Later, during my visit to the Swat Press Club, I learned about his serious illness due to kidney failure and his ongoing alternate-day dialysis treatment at Quaid-I-Azam Hospital in Rawalpindi. Upon my return to Islamabad, I made sure to visit him at the hospital in the presence of his obedient son Abdullah. Later, we both went to the office of Honorable Dr. Shaukat Bangash, whom I incidentally knew from the days when he was founding this state-of-the-art medical facility and found out that he was abroad.
During our meeting, the brave and bold journalist Ghulam Farooq complained of severe neck pain, for which I ordered a pain control medical apparatus from Lahore. Unfortunately, the machine turned out to be defective when we tried it on his painful area, and I had to return it. While the new machine is yet to arrive, this sad news reached me through Honourable Fazal Rahim Khan, a Swat-based senior journalist, about his Janaza to be held on Tuesday, 19th December 2023, in Mingora. Luckily, I am in Swat to bid him a final goodbye on his last journey to his heavenly abode.
The last wish of the late Ghulam Farooq was the approval of ABC certification from the Press Information Department Islamabad. I was honored to accompany his another obedient son Umer along with my Dawn colleague Jehangir Khan. I am extremely grateful to the young Information Group Officer Faizan, who was most courteous and obliging to do the needful. I am sure that after his demise, the Press Information Department would ensure the newspaper ABC request is honored.
I consider myself honored to have been close to the late Ghulam Farooq in his last days and found him a dutiful and devoted newspaper person. Right from his dialysis bed and going through infirmity, he still was telephonically coordinating with someone to pay off the press liabilities. The family has been undergoing severe emotional and financial stress in these difficult times when running a newspaper is not child’s play, especially due to the rising cost of newsprint.
I am sure my school fellow, Honourable Abdul Jabbar Shah, as the incumbent information secretary, would be thoughtful enough to bring attention to the financial challenges that the journalist community faces, especially when they face life-threatening health issues and need state support for their well-being and welfare. Sadly, the regional papers and their staff and management face the worst discrimination in terms of government support and patronage, while their contribution remains immense in highlighting regional issues. Rest in peace, friend Ghulam Farooq; you will always be missed, and I feel honor-bound to stand by your dutiful sons whenever they will need my humble assistance.
