Khaled Ahmed (12 February, 1943 – 17 November 2024) was a Pakistani journalist and writer. He received the Presidential Pride of Performance Medal in 2013. Khaled was a maternal uncle of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Early life and education

Ahmed was born in

Jalandhar, Punjab Jalandhar () is a city in the state of Punjab, India, Punjab in India. With a considerable population, it ranks as the List of cities in Punjab and Chandigarh by population, third most-populous city in the state and is the largest city in the ...

on 12 February, 1943. After the

Partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

, he moved to Lahore, settling in

Zaman Park Zaman Park () is a neighborhood in the city of Lahore, Pakistan. History Zaman Park, named after Khan Bahadur Mohammad Zaman Khan, the Post Master General of Punjab in British India until 1943-44, wasn't always known by this name. Earlier maps la ...

. He graduated from the

Government College Lahore The Government College University (colloquially known as GCU; Punjabi, Urdu: ) is a public research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded as Government College, Lahore, in 1864 under British administration, it became a university ...

in 1965, and later the

University of the Punjab The University of the Punjab (UoP) is a public university, public research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded in 1882, its international influence has made it one of the most prestigious universities in South As ...

, while also earning diplomas in German and Russian language (Moscow University, 1970).

Career

Before starting his career as a diplomat in Pakistan's Foreign Service in 1969, Khaled Ahmed had a brief stint with Sohail Ifthikar's Nigarishat Publishers, where he helped translate Niccolao Manucci's ''Storia Do Mogor (Mogul India; 1653-1708)'' to Urdu. After leaving the Foreign Services, he wrote several books and wrote for The Pakistan Times,

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

The Frontier Post ''The Frontier Post'' is an independent English language daily newspaper founded in Peshawar, Pakistan, in 1985. It publishes from Peshawar, Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi, and Quetta. History When the paper was founded in 1985, there were no promi ...

Daily Times ''Daily Times'' may refer to the following national newspapers: * ''Daily Times'' (Nigeria), newspaper published in Nigeria * ''Daily Times'' (Pakistan), newspaper published in Pakistan ''The Daily Times'' may refer to the following newspapers: * ...

The Friday Times ''The Friday Times'' (TFT) is a Pakistani English-language online publication based in Lahore, Pakistan. History ''The Friday Times'' was first published in May 1989. TFT's founder-editor Najam Sethi and publisher Jugnu Mohsin, a husband-and- ...

, Newsweek (Pakistan), and most recently Pakistan Standard, where he was the Consulting Editor. From 1991 to 1993, he was part of the Founding team of the India-Pakistan Neemrana Dialogue, Track Two Diplomacy. Between 2010 and 2013, he served as the Director of

South Asia Free Media Association The South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA) is a non-governmental organization of media representatives from South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, SAARC member countries. SAFMA runs the South Asia Media School since 2007 and also pu ...

(SAFMA).

Death

Ahmed died from a cardiac arrest in Lahore, on 17 November 2024, at the age of 81.

Writings

Ahmed authored 20 books, mainly on socio-political issues of Pakistan. * Pakistan: Behind the Ideological Mask, 2011, published by Vanguard Books Lahore * Sectarian War : Pakistan's Sunni-Shia Violence and Its Links to the Middle East, 2011 published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, Pakistan, written while at Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington D.C * Sleepwalking to Surrender: Dealing with Terrorism in Pakistan, 2016 published by

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

, UK * Pakistan's Terror Conundrum, 2020,

Awards

* Best Book of the Year Award, ''Academy of Letters Islamabad (2012)'' * Presidential Pride of Performance Medal, ''(2013)''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Khaled 1943 births 2024 deaths Journalists from Lahore Writers from Lahore Recipients of the Pride of Performance Family of Imran Khan