SRINAGAR: Kashmir’s veteran broadcaster, among the pioneers in Television media, is no more. He was 83.
Family sources confirmed that Nazki breathed his last at a hospital in Katra after a massive heart attack. He was unwell for a long time but earnest for last year.
A veteran broadcaster and a Sahitya Academy-honoured poet, Nazki had multiple health issues. He was on dialysis for some time as his lungs were also suffering from a serious disease.
Nazki started his career as a journalist in Zamindar newspaper (another report suggests it was Mazdoor newspaper) and a casual news reader. He eventually headed Radio Kashmir Srinagar as Director at the most critical phase of Kashmir’s history. He also headed Doordarshan and later became the Deputy Director General of Doordarshan. Besides, he was the media adviser of Dr Farooq Abdullah for many years and later briefly to his son, Omar Abdullah.
The passing away of a qalander is not to be mourned; his fulfilling life is to be celebrated. For he has left this station after enriching it in many ways. A societal loss which is a personal bereavement. RIP Mir Mohammed Farooq Nazki (1940 – 2024). pic.twitter.com/MjB056Q6tB
— Haseeb Drabu (@HaseebDrabu) February 6, 2024
A multi-dimensional person, he was a man of letters, art, and poetry and one of the Kashmir pioneers in TV. He flew to Germany around 1972 to pick up the audio-visual technology and brought it home.
An engaging conversationalist and an impressive poet, several of Nazki’s poetic collections have bagged awards. These included Kanzalwanus Naar Heutun and Sat Baran. In 1995, he won the Sahitya Academy award in Kashmiri language literature for his book of poetry, Naar Hyutun Kanzal Wanas (Fire in the eyelashes). He has also won the state Cultural Academy Award for both that work and Lafz Lafz Noha.
Given the requirement of his frequent dialysis weekly, he had moved to live with his son who is serving a major super speciality hospital in Katra. He passed away there. Both his daughters were around at the time of his passing.
Born on February 14, he would have been 83 next week. He is survived by his son, a medical doctor, and two daughters. His wife is also unwell but doing better.
His body is being brought to Srinagar by road for burial at the family’s ancestral graveyard at Kathi Darwaza, Srinagar. The timing of funeral prayers, Nimaz-e-Jinaza will be notified, they said.
