Journalist and veteran human rights activist Ibn Abdur Rehman aka I A Rehman passed away in Lahore at the age of 90 on Monday.
He died of old age and high sugar and blood pressure levels, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Secretary General Harris Khalique said.
The deceased left behind three sons and two daughters. His wife, Tauseef I A Rehman, had died in 2015.
A protégé of Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Abdur Rehman became chief editor of the now-defunct Pakistan Times in 1989. He wrote a regular column for Dawn until a few days before his death.
He was the founding chair of the Pakistan-India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) and a director of the HRCP since 1990.
Between 1978 and 1988, he remained executive editor of weekly Viewpoint.
Tributes poured in from all quarters as word of Abdur Rehman’s passing spread.
“A titan of human rights, Mr Rehman’s integrity, conscience and compassion were unparalleled,” HRCP said.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the country had lost a “true icon”.
Political leaders from both the government and opposition, media persons and rights activists are among those expressing grief and sorrow over Rehman’s death on Twitter.
