New Delhi: Zaheeruddin Ali Khan, the managing editor of The Siasat Daily, passed away on August 7. He was 63.
Khan suffered a heart attack while attending the funeral of the revolutionary singer Gummadi Vittal Rao – popular as ‘Gaddar’ – who passed away on August 6.
The Hindu has reported that at around 5 pm, Khan spoke of feeling uneasy at the funeral procession. He was taken in an ambulance to a private hospital near Kompally, where doctors declared him dead.
Khan was a known philanthropist, famous for contributing to the community in times of crisis and need, across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
From initiatives to help the poor, to the establishment of a minority development forum, to ensuring free healthcare for slum residents, to skill training for poor women and spoken English classes, Khan spent the last few decades almost singularly devoting himself to social development.
Siasat‘s website noted that he had also been a figure of note in Telangana’s statehood movement.
“He also worked to make all political parties accountable and did not shy away from vociferously criticising their ‘wrongdoings’,” Siasat said.
Among those who have condoled Khan’s death are Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, home minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali, municipal administration minister K.T. Rama Rao, and Telangana Congress president A. Revanth Reddy, among others.