LAHORE: Senior journalist Khalid Chaudhry breathed his last here on Sunday morning. He was 79.

His funeral prayers will be offered at Jamia Masjid, T-Block of Phase-II of DHA after Zuhr prayers on Monday (today). His body will be laid to rest in Miani Sahib Graveyard.

Chaudhry has left behind two daughters and a son.

A life member of the Lahore Press Club, he had served as editor and at other senior positions in different Urdu dailies, including Musawaat, Aaj Kal, and Khabreen.

Considered to be close to former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Khalid Chaudhry had led the anti-Ayub movement from the front as president of the West Pakistan chapter of the Peoples Students Federation (PSF).

He was arrested by the Gen Ayub regime in 1968, the first political detention during the then anti-government movement and Bhutto threatened to launch a countrywide protest drive for his release.

Chaudhry was again arrested by the Gen Yahya regime and remained imprisoned in the Attock Fort. After his release, he somehow sneaked out of the country to avert further persecution at the hands of the military regime and went to Libya to later move to Germany to study journalism. After completing his degree, he returned to Pakistan when ZAB was in power.

When Gen Zia imposed the martial law ousting the Bhutto government, Khalid Chaudhry was implicated in the Lahore High Court bombing case and was handed down a 10 years jail term. He was, however, released after two-and-a-half years as his German wife, Elizabeth Holzel Khalid, ran a successful campaign both in London and Germany against his conviction.

The couple, however, separated when Ms Holzel failed to convince Mr Chaudhry to migrate abroad to prevent hardships in the future but he insisted to stay in Pakistan, his brother Sahir Rasheed Chaudhry says.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2023