Zaheeruddin Ali Khan, philanthropist Managing Editor of Siasat Daily was laid to rest in Aakhirat Manzil early on Tuesday. Mr. Khan passed away on Monday, after a heart attack at balladeer Gaddar’s funeral.
It was before the crack of dawn that hundreds of people converged at the expansive courtyard of the Shahi Masjid in Public Gardens where Mr Khan’s body was brought from his home in Lakdikapul. The namaz-e-janaaza (funeral prayers) were performed soon after Fajr namaz.
From the Shahi Masjid, the funeral procession comprising family, friends and well-wishers, reached Aakhirat Manzil, an ancestral graveyard on Darusslaam Road, where Mr Khan was buried near the final resting place of Abid Ali Khan, a towering figure of Urdu journalism who founded the Siasat Daily in August 15, 1949.
Messages condoling Mr Khan’s death began to pour in soon after his passing on Monday. Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao described Mr Khan’s passing as an “irreparable loss to Urdu journalism”, and recalled his role in the Telangana movement.
Politicians and civil servants continued to arrive at his residence till early in the morning. Among those who visited the residence to pay their respects included Finance Minister T Harish Rao, Home Minister Mohammad Mahmood Ali, and parliamentarians Asaduddin Owaisi, and A Revanth Reddy.
Union Minister for Culture G. Kishan Reddy offered his condolences to Mr. Khan’s family, and recalled the friendship the journalist shared with balladeer Gaddar in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Those who knew Mr. Khan remembered him as a compassionate and generous man, who always stood with the oppressed, irrespective of the communities to which they belonged. Many saw the late journalist as a cohesive force between communities, a man who cared deeply about the underprivileged and quietly extended all the support he could.
