Karachi- Mirza Arif Qasim, ‘The News’ correspondent, passed away here on Sunday. Arif, 57, is survived by his wife and two children. His Namaz-e-Janaza will be held on Monday (today) at Masjid Babul Ilm, opposite Five-Star Chowrangi, North Nazimabad. He will be buried at Vadi-e-Hussain.

Arif wrote about horse racing for ‘The News’ for more than 15 years. His solid coverage and personal access to the major players in the sport made him pretty influential and punters used to wait for his weekly pieces in ‘The News’. He used to be spot on with his tips most of the times and punters would miss his regular previews and stories on horse racing which used to be one of the strong points of the sports pages of ‘The News’.

Most of the times, Arif, avoided writing too critically about the people or the industry, preferring to accentuate the positives of a sport he loved. But there used to be occasions when too much foul-play at the race course would force him to pen down potent pieces that highlighted the wrongdoings and warned the culprits to avoid repeating it in the future.

Even in recent times when his health kept deteriorating, Arif remained passionate about horse racing and rarely skipped paying a visit to the Karachi Race Club (KRC) every Sunday to witness the action there and then report about it. He will be sorely missed.
Source: The News
Date:5/17/2010