Ireland University announces award after Arshad Sharif’s name

ISLAMABAD: Ulster University in Ireland has decided to introduce an award named after senior journalist Arshad Sharif, who was assassinated in Kenya’s capital Nairobi on October 23, ARY News reported on Monday.

According to details, Ulster University in Ireland has penned down a letter to Sharif’s wife – Somiya Arshad – seeking permission to introduce Best Investigate Journalist award named after the slain journalist.

In the letter, Dr Colm Murphy – Subject Leader – said that the varsity will honor Arshad Sharif’s memory by giving an award named after him each year to one of its students for the best articles produced in investigative journalism.

The varsity also expressed condolences on the tragic death of the senior journalist, noting that Sharif was a past student of the school graduating over 17 years ago with his MA in Media Studies.

The university administration has also added Arshad Sharif’s name to its Tree of Hope in the university oratory in Coleraine as the “institute remembers him and his family at this time of the year”.

Seeking permission to introduce the award, the varsity said his fight for truth will become a legacy to encourage a new generation of journalists.

Arshad Sharif’s assassination

The senior journalist and former ARY News anchor, was killed in Kenyan capital Nairobi on October 23 where he was living in self-exile.

Kenyan police first said that Arshad Sharif was killed in a case of “mistaken identity” but since the seasoned journalist’s post-mortem and his body’s transfer to his home country, several Kenyan news outlets have not only questioned the police’s conduct but have raised questions over the manner in which he was killed.