Athar Masood Wani & Zafar Wani Pass away a Day Apart

 

Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, Chairman, World Forum for Peace & Justice, has issued the following statement from Washington:

We are saddened to know about the demise of Ather Masood Wani and his brother Engineer Zafar Wani during this week.

Inna Lillah-e-Wainna Ilahi Rajioon.  Indeed, we belong to Allah and indeed to Him we return.

They were the proud sons of Khawaja Abdul Samad Wani who was my host when I visited Pakistan first time in 1978.

In 1985, Khawaja Sahib made two appointments for me: one with Sardar Mohammad Qayyum Khan Sahib, then the President, Azad Kashmir and Raja Zafarul Haq Sahib, then the Minister of Information. He also arranged my trip to Murree where I stayed overnight and to Muzaffarabad where I stayed two nights. Khawaja Sahib arranged my lecture at the Supreme Court of Azad Kashmir where I was pleased to meet one of the most prominent jurists of Kashmir, the Chief Justice Raja Khurshid Sahib.

Khawaja Sahib was born in the Capital city of Srinagar and migrated to Pakistan in 1947. He was the Editor of Kasheer and one of the prominent journalists of Pakistan.

As the saying goes, like father like son. Athar Masood Wani was also a well-known journalist of Azad Kashmir. He was always kind to meet me whenever I visited Pakistan. I remember that in 2010 when I was visiting Pakistan, he arranged my press briefing with more than two dozen print and electronic journalists of Azad Kashmir at the Islamabad Hotel. Notwithstanding my insistence that I must pay as I am the host, Ather never let me pay even for a cup of tea. What a kind soul he was! May Allah place the souls of Athar Masood Wani and Engineer Zafar Wani in Jannatul Firdous and give sabr to the family! Ameen.

(Dr Fai is the Secretary General, World Kashmir Awareness Forum. gnfai2003@yahoo.com, www.kashmirawareness.org)