Veteran jouಞrnalist, author, and columnist Humra Quraishi passed away at the age of 70🌞 on January 16 at a hospital in Gurugram. According to PTI, she died due to cardiac arrest and diabetic complications. Quraishi was known for fearless journalism and her advocacy for truth, and justice as a champion for the marginalised.
“It is with deep sadness that we inform you of the passing of our beloved Humra Quraishi. Your presence at the farewell prayers would mean a great deal to us as we come together to remember her kindness, love, and enduring legacy," her daughter Sarah, son Mustafa and daughter-in-law Mansi and grandchildren Ali, Hasan, and Amna said in a statement, as per PTI. Quraishi💖’s farewell prayers took place on January 17.
Humra Quraishi's body of work
Born in Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh on April 25, 1956, Quraishi worked as a Delhi-based writer and columnist. She is famously known for her work 'Kashmir: The Untold Story' where she elucidated the complex narratives and challenges of the conflicted region. Besides, she also authored other notable works such as More Bad Time Tales, Divine Legacy: Dagars & Dhrupad, Meer, Views: Yours and Mine and more.
Quraishi published her most notable collective writing, "Kashmir: The Untold Story", after spending long years covering the conflicted terrain as a journalist. She also authored a novel, "Meer", a love story based in the Valley.
Some of her other noted works include "Views: Yours and Mine", "More Bad Time Tales", and contribution to anthologies "Chasing the Good Life: On Being Single" and "Of Mothers and Others".
Quraishi also worked with journalist-author Khushwant Singh on a number of books and publications, including "Absolute Khushwant" and "The Good, The Bad and The Ridiculous".
In "The Good, The Bad and The Ridiculous", the duo profiled the likes🍒 of Jawaharlal Nehru, Krishna Menon, Indira Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, Amrita Sher-Gil, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Mother Teresa, and Faiz Ahmad Faiz in what can be termed an "intimate, irreverent modern history" of the subcontinent.
Tributes pour in
Tributes poured in from journalists and writers across the nation after Quraishi's passing. According to a report by The Indian Express, remembering her honest, fearless reporting and advocacy for the marginalised, activist Shabnam Hashmi told Times Now, "Humra’s passing is a loss not only to he⛄r family but to the world of journalism and social justice."
While remembering her, veteran journalist Y🍸usuf Jameel spoke about Quraishi's professional integrity as he remembered her coverage of Kashmir.
Kashmir-based journalist Majid Maqbool remembered Quraishi as𓄧 a journalist "who wrote h꧙umanly about Kashmir".
"Kashmir's newspapers, writers and senior journalists wh🌟o knew her well: write about her Kashmir engagement honestly, without making it about y🦩ourself!" he said.
Columnist-author Sunetra Choudh♛ary shared that Quraishi used to "donate all th༺e proceeds from her books to charity".
"The wonderful journalist and w꧃riter Humra Quraishi is no more. Her books on Khushwant🃏 Singh and Kashmir and her columns stand out for their depth and I only recently learnt that she used to donate all the proceeds from her books to charity. She really went too soon," Choudhary posted on X.
Tamil poet and Lok Sabha MP𒁏 Thamizhachi Thangapandian mourned "the loss of a dear friend and an extraordinary litꩲerary voice".
"Humra was more than just a writer; she was a truthꦯ-seeker, a compassionate chronicler of🐷 human resilience, and an advocate for the silenced. Her words carried immense power, bringing light to stories that needed to be told with courage and grace," Thangapandian wrote.
