Saleem Asmi

Syed Fazle Saleem Asmi (29 November 1934 – 30 October 2020), commonly known as Saleem Asmi, was a Pakistani journalist and editor. The seventh editor of Dawn, he held the position from March 2000 until his retirement in January 2003. Asmi also served as news editor of the Dubai-based daily Khaleej Times during the mid-1980s and twice as president of the Karachi Press Club.

Early life and education Asmi was born on 29 November 1934 in Jhansi, in the United Provinces of British India. He briefly left journalism for a position in public relations at Pakistan International Airlines before returning to the Pakistan Times at its Rawalpindi office.

Imprisonment under Zia-ul-Haq Following the 1977 military coup led by Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, Asmi was dismissed from the Pakistan Times and was among the journalists arrested in connection with protests against press restrictions imposed by the military government.

Khaleej Times In the mid-1980s Asmi moved to Dubai to become news editor of the English-language daily Khaleej Times, a position he held for several years. He was responsible for launching Dawns Islamabad edition. On his appointment as editor of Dawn in 2000, he resigned from the HRCP vice-chairpersonship to avoid a conflict of interest.

Personal life Asmi married and had two sons and a daughter; all three resided abroad at the time of his death. A collector of modern Pakistani art, he assembled a body of work that included paintings by Bashir Mirza and Jamil Naqsh, a selection of which was later donated to Karachi's Mohatta Palace Museum and to other institutions.

A selection of Asmi's journalistic work, including interviews with figures such as Faiz Ahmad Faiz and Roshan Ara Begum, was compiled by his friend S. M. Shahid and published in 2012 under the title Saleem Asmi: Interviews, Articles, Reviews.

Death Asmi died in Karachi on the night of 30 October 2020, at the age of 85, after a long illness. He was survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.