WEB DESK
Veteran journalist Siddiq Ahmad Siddiqui passed away yesterday, 23rd May 2020, at his sister Mrs. Mehjabeen’s house in Jamia Nagar, New Delhi. . He was 84 years old. Son of Begum Zahida and Prof. Ale Ahmad Suroor, noted Urdu critic and former Vice-Chancellor Kashmir University, Siddique Ahmed Siddiq, named ‘The Truthful’, spoke with wry humour of the burden of speaking the truth no matter the cost or consequence, a burden placed upon him from birth. Relentlessly contrarian, wilful and moody, but also loyal friend, and a fine human being.
He did his M.A in English from Aligarh Muslim University and later joined the National Herald under Chelapati Rau and moved to Indian Express in the early seventies. He was a close friend of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar and was associated with his journal ‘Young Indian’.
According to his nephew Prof. A J Urfi , he was a veteran journalist of the old school, a dyed-in-the-wool conscientious objector, a life-long bachelor, he lived to go against the grain — be it of the political Establishment, social and cultural norms, conventional wisdom or accepted practice — making life difficult for himself and those who cared for him.
Irreconcilable differences with his editor, Arun Shourie, caused him to leave his last job at the Indian Express and never return either to journalism or any form of gainful employment seeming content to call himself a former journalist.