JournalismPakistan.com
September 10, 2012

KARACHI: Journalist and trade unionist Ahmed Ali Alavi passed away Saturday.  He was 97.

According to The Express Tribune, Ahmed started his career as a senior sub-editor with Khilafat at Bombay in 1942. He later worked for Al-Hilal newspaper, and also remained joint editor of Daily Al-Muslim.

He was offered the position of chief editor of famous Urdu language newspaper Inquilab, which he accepted on the condition that he will write only editorials.

Ahmed left India in 1956 and came to Lahore where he started working as a senior sub-editor with another Urdu language newspaper, Lailun Nahar. However, he quit a few months later and moved to Karachi, joining another newspaper.

The Express Tribune said he also worked as an advertising manager at Daily Jang, and became renowned for his constant struggle for securing the rights of journalists during the time.

Ahmed was the founder of the Jang workers union, and served as the body’s president until 1979. He was jailed several times, along with eminent journalist Minhaj Barna, for criticizing Ziaul Haq’s martial law from the platform of the All Pakistan Newspapers Employees Confederation.