– tributes flow in

FORMER Editor-in-Chief of the Guyana Chronicle Mr. Sharief Khan died yesterday morning at his residence in Ogle, East Coast Demerara after what was believed to be a heart attack.
The 59-year-old veteran journalist was at the time employed in the Office of Climate Change based at the Office of the President and also served within the Press and Publicity Unit of the Office of the President. Born on May 26, 1951, Khan took up the mantle of Editor-in-Chief of the Guyana Chronicle on November 2, 1992 and served in that capacity until he proceeded on early retirement on February 1, 2008.
Khan had been ailing with a heart condition for some years and had undergone a triple by-pass surgery in 1998.
Speaking to the Guyana Chronicle, the man’s mother, 76-year-old Sharifan Khan said her son got started for the day as usual. “This morning he got up…went to have a bath and shave. He went into his room. Nazir (his brother) was in the kitchen and he heard a thud,” Khan’s mother related to this newspaper.
She said that Nazir checked to see whether Sharief was alive, trying to talk to him and get him to talk but got no response.
“I was in the toilet and when I came in and sat down I saw his brother coming out of his (Sharief’s) room with a kettle in his hand. Before I could ask, he said ‘I don’t know how to tell you…’, the visibly distraught elderly woman related.
The wake was planned for Vergenoegen on the East Bank of Essequibo. The funeral is planned for tomorrow and will be performed in accordance with Muslim rites.
At the home yesterday, Khan’s mother wept inconsolably while family members tried to comfort her.
In a statement, Editor-in-Chief of the Guyana Chronicle Mr. Mark Ramotar called Khan “a dear friend and mentor”.
“Sharief was a unique and outstanding journalist. His acuity and professionalism were second to none. The Chronicle family is extremely conscious that we have lost one of the most experienced journalists in the country, the Caribbean and even further afield,” said Ramotar.
He called Khan an “incredible individual who made a most significant contribution to the print media in Guyana.”
Ramotar stated: “Throughout his years in journalism, Sharief prided himself in being able to annoy pompous people. For a number of years, while as Editor-in-Chief, he entertained, prodded and provoked through his well-written satirical column in the Sunday Chronicle, dubbed ‘Khan’s Chronicles’. He had the uncanny ability to bring a special brand of tongue-in-cheek humour to the issues he discussed…Though such a frail man, Sharief had a heavy voice and packed a powerful clout.”
Former Editor and Sunday Editor of the Guyana Chronicle Ms. Claudette Earle said Khan was a fearless journalist. “He had a newsman’s instinct for a good story. He was always a good newspaperman. He worked hard and he encouraged others to do likewise by his example,” Ms. Earle said in an invited comment.
Earle, who served under Khan until her retirement in 2005, said Sharief had a concern for the national well-being of Guyana. “He looked not only at the impact of a story on the news pages, but also on how it affected the rest of the country,” Earle commented.
Veteran journalist turned lawyer, Member of Parliament Moses Nagamootoo immortalised Khan in a tribute, which he entitled ‘Tears for Khana’.
“For many years now I have called him “Khana”, a hybrid of his name “Khan” and the Caribbean News Agency (CANA), with which he was associated.
That was more than 35 years ago. And that’s probably how long I have known Sharief Khan, not only as a colleague but as someone synonymous with the press,” said Nagamootoo.
He called Khan “a dedicated, hard-working and versatile journalist who has left his indelible foot-prints at the main-stream media like Chronicle, GBC and Stabroek News, and whose talent in both voice and print, went beyond our borders through CANA, Reuters, BBC, and other news agencies for which he corresponded.”
According to Nagamootoo, he and Khan covered the same beats for many years and “embraced a common cause.”
“It would be true to say that throughout his life, Sharief had one passion, that was, for professional journalism. His concern was for a free press in a free country, and for journalists to be treated fairly. He was committed to seeking after truth when it was hard to get it, and when the price for dissent was dismissal.
As a journalist, he has served with distinction for which he became a National Awardee whilst I was serving as Minister of Information,” said Nagamootoo.
His tribute said that at a personal level, “Sharief became one with my family in the lean years, when we shared home. For our children, he was simply ‘Uncle Sharief’. “His death is a loss of a friend, a brother and comrade,” said Nagamootoo.
“Sharief had undivided love for his mother, and great bond with his brothers and sisters, with whom he had shared a modest life in a crowded apartment.
For us, tears for Sharief Khan, like the rains, would dampen this year’s Mash celebrations,” said Nagamootoo.
Meanwhile, the Guyana Press Association, in a statement, said it is shocked and deeply saddened at the passing of another veteran journalist. “His death in February is a tough blow coming so soon after the media fraternity mourned the passing of Clem David in January of this year,” he said.
“Sharief Khan has always been a passionate advocate for free speech and expression particularly during the time that he served and lived as a journalist in Guyana prior to the historic elections of 1992. In the new dispensation, he continued to pursue his journalistic endeavours with the same vigour and commitment when he became Editor-in-Chief of the Guyana Chronicle,” the statement from the GPA said.
It said Khan always supported programmes of the GPA and was unwavering in his loyalty to the fraternity. “He assisted the younger journalists and guided them even during press conferences when his ‘sotto voce murmuring’ would indicate to them that they were either following the right or tripping over the wrong angle,” the GPA stated.
The Association noted that Khan was an active member of the media for more than three decades, ever since the days when he walked into the offices of the late Carl Blackman at the Daily Chronicle and asked to be a correspondent from West Demerara.
Giving an account of the working life of Khan, the GPA recalled that he served as the founding Chief Reporter at Stabroek News from 1986-92 and worked at the Radio Demerara Newsroom. “He was a stringer/correspondent for the BBC, CANA, Radio Antilles, and Reuters for several years, travelling extensively covering the news when and where it happened,” the GPA recalled.
“As a reporter, he preferred to cover the politics of the country and needless to say he incurred the wrath of many but cared little. Over the last few years, ill health including heart by-pass surgery caused him to slow down but he served in the Office of President until his sudden demise. May his soul rest in peace,” the GPA said.
MR. Shyam Nokta, Head of the Office of Climate Change, with which Khan worked up to the time of his death, said: “Sharief worked closely with me since he has been with us for the last three years. It is indeed a shock to learn of his passing.”
His death has left a big void, Nokta said, adding that Khan was always “a willing and dependable person.”
Nokta said the Office of Climate Change was in shock at learning of Khan’s sudden passing. “I still cannot believe it…the entire office is very devastated. He was a very jovial person…always with a joke or a comment,” said Nokta. He added that during the recent trip to India, Khan was the person with whom he communicated at any hour of the day or night, considering the nine and a half hour time difference.
Former Sunday Editor of the Guyana Chronicle Ms. Michelle Nurse said: “I was deeply saddened by the news of Sharief’s death… I knew he wasn’t enjoying the best of health but his sudden death has shocked me.”
She noted that Khan was “a small man with a huge voice,” one of the more seasoned journalists in Guyana “who was dedicated to his work to the point that I believe his health began to suffer.”
Nurse said that she will always remember his sharp wit, his irreverence and his fun-loving nature. “May his soul rest in peace,” she said.
Also, Stabroek News Editor-in-Chief Mr. Anand Persaud (in a message on that newspaper’s website yesterday)  expressed condolences on the passing of Khan. He said Khan had played an important role as a leading journalist in the formative years of Stabroek News where he was  appointed News Editor and later became Assistant Editor of the Stabroek News. He later moved to the Guyana Chronicle in 1992.