By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Mumbai: Philanthropist, noted pharma industrialist and former president of Anjuman-I-Islam died here after a prolonged illness.
Khatib, founder of Medley Pharmaceuticals Ltd, breathed his last yesterday at the Kokilaben Hospital, where he was kept on ventilator for some time now. “He died because of organs and kidney failure. He was buried today,” Sahir Khatib, his son, told TwoCircles.net.
He was 80 and leaves behind his wife, three sons and a daughter.
Sami Khatib
Recipient of the ‘Vijay Ratna’ award from the Prime Minister of India on March 6, 1991 for his successful achievement in the industry, Khatib was a successful industrialist with more than 50 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He was known for his generous donations for the educational upliftment of Muslims. He served as the Chairman and Managing Director of Medley and with sheer determination transformed it from a single product company in 1969 to one of India’s leading pharmaceutical companies having over 200 products & a presence in 26 countries globally.
Apart from graduating in science stream, he also held an impressive portfolio of degrees such as B. Pharm, LLB and DBM. He had also founded the Sinkhai Foundation.
The philanthropist had headed the Anjuman-I-Islam as president till 2009. He has also been a member of the General Council of the Anjuman-I-Islam, Mumbai since 1987. Incidentally, Khatib was persuaded to resign as the president of the Anjuman-I-Islam in 2009 as majority of the executive body members were not satisfied with his authoritarian style of functioning.
He had built a rural community hall at Kalamb (district Yavatmal in Maharashtra) in 1982 and an English medium school at the same village Kalamb in 2009. He was also the chairman of Daroor-Ul-Uloom (Public School), Panchgani (Maharashtra) and a trustee of the famous shrine Shri Sai Baba Sansthan Trust, Shirdi.
(Updated on November 19, 2014)