Condolences poured in from Afghan politicians, foreign diplomats, Afghan journalists and the public over the death of Mujahid Kakar, a pioneer of journalism and former head of TOLOnews, who passed away on Monday.
He was fighting with blood cancer for years and was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Germany.
Most of the messages on social media were from Afghan journalists who appreciated Kakar’s service to the media family in Afghanistan post -2001.
“His focus on balancing stories and following stories showed that he was an experienced journalist,” wrote Tariq Majidi, a former reporter at TOLOnews.
Afghan politicians, including President Ashraf Ghani, Abdullah Abdullah, former president Hamid Karzai and former National Security Advisor Rangin Dadfar Spanta offered their condolences to the Afghan media on Kakar’s death and called him an experienced and professional journalist.
Salahuddin Rabbani, the acting head of the Jamiat-e-Islami party, called Kakar a pioneer of journalism in Afghanistan during the post-Taliban regime, and highlighted his considerable role in improving the free media in Afghanistan.
“Mujahid Kakar was a founder of free media in Afghanistan because there wasn’t such a media outlet in the country during the Civil War,” said Tariq Farhadi, a former presidential advisor.
“He was a great journalist, and embodied the importance of press freedom. He will be remembered for the many contributions he made to Afghanistan's progress in building a dynamic and responsible press,” the US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said in a tweet.
“Sad to hear the demise of Mujahid Kakar, the former Director of TOLOnews. Pioneer and icon of journalism in Afghanistan. We offer condolences to his family and the whole media community. Our tribute to his legacy is in our support to the free media in Afghanistan,” the EU mission in Afghanistan said in a statement.
“I think that Mr. Kakar’s activities will remembered forever in Afghanistan’s media community,” said Hamid Kohistani, head of newsgathering at Killid Group, a Kabul-based media outlet.
Kakar joined TOLO TV in 2005 and worked in different roles including translating, presenting and hosting political programs.
Kakar became head of the TOLOnews network when it was formed in 2009.
He hosted the first-ever presidential election debate in Afghanistan on TOLOnews in 2009 -- the election in which Hamid Karzai was the winner.
Kakar was around 50 years old and is survived by his two children and his wife.
In 2015, he received the Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Award from the Afghanistan Journalists Center for years of distinguished contributions in the field of journalism, and for outstanding professional performance and dedication.