KARACHI: As members of the Karachi Press Club were announcing rival panels for KPC’s upcoming annual elections, there was sad news coming in about the passing of one of its oldest stalwarts and former president Abdul Hameed Chhapra on Tuesday afternoon. He was 81.

Mr Chhapra served as KPC’s president for five times and once as its secretary. He had a long working association with the Jang Group after which he became known as a trade unionist too. He remained the president of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) twice. Known as a strong advocate of freedom of the press and freedom of speech, Mr Chhapra also penned three books on these subjects.

Expressing sorrow over the passing of a fine senior member they all looked up to, several KPC members remembered how until his health allowed him to, Mr Chhapra would make it a point to attend every programme, including the press conferences held at the KPC. There was a favourite corner chair of his that he liked to slump into in the Ibrahim Jalees Hall and no one dared take that place or risk face his annoyance.

Sharing some of his fond memories of Mr Chhapra, former KPC president, writer and poet A.H. Khanzada told Dawn that he was known for his sharp memory.

Another former KPC president, writer and poet Fazil Jamili said that Mr Chhapra was his teacher in journalism as well as activism. “I owe my entire grooming to him. He was the one who also first brought this junior colleague to the KPC and then also to the PFUJ,” he said.

Dawn staffer Sumaira Jajja said that she had first met Mr Chhapra as a young journalist in Jang Group’s weekly magazine Mag. “I was just a student at the time and found him to be distributing envelopes of Eidi to all of us around Eid time. I refused to accept it at first but then I was told by others that he likes to give Eidi to the staff and it would hurt him if I don’t take it, so I did. I found a crisp Rs50 note in the envelope. In fact, all the envelopes that he was distributing had the same amount,” she said.

The KPC hosted several programmes in Mr Chhapra’s honour, one of which was also held in 2019.

Family sources said that he was fine on Tuesday but then he suddenly sta­rted feeling unwell during the afternoon and was rushed to a nearby hospital where he peacefully slipped away.

He leaves behind wife, three daughters and a son.

His funeral would be held after Asr prayers on Wednesday followed by burial at the Safoora Goth graveyard.

Meanwhile, the PFUJ has expressed condolences over the sad demise of Mr Chhapra.

In a statement, PFUJ President Shehzada Zulfikar and Secretary General Nasir Zaidi recalled the services of Mr Chhapra for the cause of press freedom and the rights of journalist community. They said Mr Chhapra was known as a vocal advocate for independence of the press and freedom of speech and expression.

The late journalist, they said, remained in jail during the 1978 movement for freedom of the press in the days of General Ziaul Haq’s regime.

They said Mr Chhapra’s life was a beacon of light for today’s journalists, particularly for the younger lot who were facing hardships due to the crisis in media industry.

Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2020