By EuAsiaNews,
Brussels : The demise of the renowned journalist, academic and expert on European Union-India relations, Malcolm Subhan, is an irreparable loss to India, the EU and Indian Diaspora in Europe, Secretary General of the Brussels-based Europe India Chamber of Commerce, Sunil Prasad, said in a statement Thursday.
“He was a passionate and courageous advocate of free and independent media, an extraordinary writer, and above all a profoundly good and generous man,’ said Prasad.
“Some people knew Malcolm as one of Belgium’s most gifted writers and editors, particularly on Indian economy. Many knew him as a fiery columnist. I knew him as an honest, caring and a great human being. He was one of a kind who will be sorely missed and never forgotten,” noted Prasad, who is also the President of Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO)in Belgium.
“Malcolm will be remembered for his straightforwardness and fearless reporting spanning across more than 50 years of journalism. It is a monumental loss to the media world and particularly to the Indian Economic newspapers and journals with whom has had been associated with for last so many years, ” added Prasad.
Subhan was a founder-member and vice-chairman of the European Institute for Asian Studies, a not-for-profit organization established in Brussels some 15 years ago in order to raise the profile of the European Union’s relations with Asia.
He was the editor of the Institute’s magazine, the “EurAsia Bulletin,” and wrote a weekly column for the “Financial Express,” India’s financial newspaper.
Until recently, he also lectured regularly on the economic problems of developing countries, in the framework of the training programme organized by the Belgian Ministry of Development Cooperation.
Subhan was in the process of setting up an EU-India civil society Internet Forum on behalf of the EU-India Round Table.
Malcolm Subhan, who was born in 1928 in Bareilly, India, passed away at the early hours on Thursday at his home outside Brussels after a long bout with colon and prostrate cancer.
His funeral will take place on Monday in Brussels.
He is survived by his wife Helen, four children, five grandchildren and brother Stanley and sister Tara.