5th Amir Siddiqui Media Awards: Excelling journalists honoured

PESHAWAR: Glowing tributes were paid to the late senior journalist and Resident Editor of The News International in Peshawar Rahimullah Yusufzai as the 5th Amir Ahmad Siddiqui Media Awards were given away to excelling journalists at a ceremony here on Friday.

Senior journalists Shamim Shahid, Ismail Khan, Abdullah Jan, Haroon Rasheed, Ali Akbar, Abdul Majeed Goraya, Zalan Momand, Safiullah Gul, cartoonist Zahoor Ahmad, Peshawar Press Club President M Riaz, University of Peshawar’s Journalism and Mass Communication Department Chairman Prof Dr Faizullah Jan, Aurat Foundation Resident Director Shabina Ayaz and others attended the programme.

Cash prizes and trophies were distributed among the winners at the ceremony arranged at the Zubair Mir Hall of the Peshawar Press Club.

The award for the best woman journalist was given away to Riffat Anjum. The award for best English report was presented to Arshad Yusufzai.

Izharullah won the award for best Urdu report. Mamaraha Afridi received the award under the category of best tribal journalist.

Sajmal Yooddon was honoured for the best TV report while Islam Gul was given the best photographer award.

Senior journalist Ismail Khan, who was the chairman of the judges committee for the award, while speaking on the occasion, paid rich tributes to Rahimullah Yusufzai for his journalistic services and his role in launching the Amir Ahmad Siddiqui Awards.

He also announced to raise the cash prize for the award from Rs30,000 to Rs50,000 from the next year.

It may be mentioned here that over 125 journalists from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa belonging to national and international print and electronic news organizations took part in the competition, involving a total of six categories.

The process of reviewing entries to the competition got delayed mainly due to the Covid-19-related public health measures and repeated lockdowns in different parts of the province.

The competition, named after a veteran journalist of Peshawar, Amir Ahmad Siddiqui (late), is being held as a joint endeavour on the part of his family and a group of senior journalists from Peshawar.