PESHAWAR: A young writer and author of three rare books on Peshawar, Imran Rashid Imran, died of a cardiac arrest on Tuesday.
He was 41. His funeral procession was taken out from his residence at Ghala Mandi, Liaqat Street in Peshawar Saddar. He was laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard in the presence of a large number of relatives, friends, literati, cultural activists and people in general. He leaves behind a widow, three daughters and a son. The family sources said Imran was suffering from cardiomegaly or enlarged heart disease with ventricular failure. He was shifted to the Cardiac Care Unit of the Hayatabad Medical Complex, Peshawar some 20 days back after his condition worsened. He struggled hard but lost life to the heart disease.
Imran was born in Peshawar Saddar on December 4, 1970. After receiving early education, he did his master’s in journalism and history from the University of Peshawar. He entered practical journalism in 1992. He worked as a reporter, sub-editor in a local daily and later became a columnist.
Widely known as a humble researcher, Imran was a tireless and committed historian on Peshawar’s glorious heritage, having first authored and published in 2002, an authentic account in Urdu called “Peshawar saddar tareekh ke ainey main” (Peshawar cantonment through ages) researching from numerous colonial military gazettes, archival matter and published accounts. The 540-page book won him appreciation as it was considered to be the first publication of the kind on any cantonment of the country.
He painstakingly authored in 2006 another book “Baghaat-e-Peshawar” about the gardens of Peshawar. The book was well received at a time when green places in Peshawar were already shrinking in the city known in the past as “The city of flowers”.
His latest 200-page book was “Peshawar—Faseele-e-Shehar Aur Darawazey” that was published by the Sarhad Conservation Network in March this year.
