Zia Meer - End of an era.

 Hazaaron saal nargis apni benoori pe roti hai !

Badi mushkil se hota hai chaman may deedavar paida !

(The eye-shaped Lily plant bemoans his sightlessness for centuries and with great difficulty & much delay, the cynosure (flower) blooms in the garden)

Eminent journalist & a well-known writer MrZia Meerpassed away on Wednesday night. He was 85 and had been suffering from ailments related to old age. Mr Zia Meer was a noted personality in the Urdu print media industry. On his career front, he started off with the Urdu publication Salar Urdu dailyNewspaper. He then joined the The Sultan and has worked with the Daily Pasbanas the chief executive editor at Bangalore.

I still have the vivid memory of the senior journalist with full of energy, humorous and always used to keep a smiling face. He was entirely at ease and different from the today’s journalists. He was a person who could be looked upon for deep insight over the political & social developments in Karnataka. Besides, being a veteran journalist and a political analyst, Mr Zia Meer has written several books in Urdu.

During his long & versatile career he deserved much more but his gentle nature and a strong sense of modesty did not allow him to chase awards and rewards. He had many ideas on true journalism and a vision to build journalism institution in Karnataka.

He was awarded with the prestigious Karnataka State Rajyotsava Award along with legendary cricketer Rahul Dravid & Inspector Dayak Nayak in the year 2004/05. Last year when I was the chairman of Bestage group, we were fortunate to felecetitate him for completing fifty plus years of outstanding services in the world of journalism. He was loved by all sections of society.

It took me a while to be able to attempt to put down the memories on post. His positive, encouraging, humble and caring words still linger in my thoughts. From past few years I use to meet him frequently & discuss many interesting & informative topics. He is my sister’s father in law. He always remembered & shared the patriotism stories of great journalists & their sincere efforts during our freedom fight. They were not like today’s journalists who believe in entertaining news.

Another inspiring incident I recollect, in the fifties & sixties, Mr Zia Meer & his team in the midnight collects information from English newspapers & drives cycle for ten to fifteen kilometers to the office, using old typewriters to publish the Urdu newspaper. I think today’s journalists are lucky to be blessed with modern technology.

Zia Meer created a new trend in journalism, especially in Urdu journalism. He always believed in agenda setting, raising issues, and initiating debates which demand attention. He is one of those last breed of journalist who had emerged from the background of freedom struggle.

He was a multi faceted personality and a dawn of Indian Journalism. Firm believers in the ethics of journalism who always believed in perusing the truth and never hesitated to take the firm stand wherever he felt necessary.

Zia Meer was an excellent journalist and will continue to be a source of inspiration for all the journalists in the years to come.

May his soul rest in peace. May the Almighty give strength to his family to bear this irreparable loss.

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