Pakistanis mourn death of veteran Christian journalist

Muslims and Christians in Pakistan have mourned the death of the founding member of a national platform for Christian media professionals in the nation.

Jan 14, 2025

Emanuel Sarfraz at a communication workshop organized by the Ecumenical Commission for Human Development at Rahnuma Training Institute, Lahore, on April 19, 2024. (Photo: Kamran Chaudhry)


By Kamran Chaudhry
Muslims and Christians in Pakistan have mourned the death of the founding member of a national platform for Christian media professionals in the nation.

Emanuel Sarfraz, who founded the Christian Journalists Association of Pakistan (CJAP), died on Jan. 13, at his home in Lahore. He was 56.

Sarfraz was a chronic diabetic patient and underwent periodic renal dialysis. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.

Sarfraz established CJAP in 2021, along with a group of 120 journalists from both print and electronic media.

“He was instrumental in capacity building and creating job opportunities for many Christian journalists,” said CJAP coordinator Kashif Nawab.

Nawab told UCA News how Sarfraz maintained a strong Christian identity in the Muslim-majority nation’s media landscape, where journalists would keep to their own.

Sarfraz, a life member of the Lahore Press Club and a member of its governing body, "provided us with moral and technical support. We will miss him,” Nawab said.

Nawab also urged the Punjab province government to financially support Sarfraz’s family as he died young.

Sarfraz was an active member of the Church of Pakistan and served as the general secretary of the Lahore Young Men’s Christian Association YMCA since 2020.

“He was a regular churchgoer and a dedicated Christian. We have lost a strong voice for the community,” said Reverend Qaiser Nadeem, vicar of the Protestant Cathedral Church of the Resurrection in Lahore.

Born in Lahore, Sarfraz began his journalistic career in 1995. He worked with leading national publications and was the editorial coordinator of the mass circulation English newspaper The Nation.

He was also employed with Khaleej Times and Gulf News.

Sarfaraz received the South Asia Journalism Fellowship and was selected for the Chevening South Asia Journalism Programme Fellowship at the University of Westminster in the United Kingdom.

He was also an alumnus of the Foreign Press Center, Tokyo, and East-West Center, Washington D.C.

In 2019, the University of Management and Technology in Lahore hired him as the founding editor of Academia Magazine, a print publication for the higher education sector.

Pakistani journalist Arslan Haider recalled working with Sarfraz.

“He understood the issues and needs of his staff and treated them equally. He was always there to support and guide us,” he said.

“I have no words to express my loss,” Haider added.--ucanews.com

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