Iconic TV anchor Tariq Aziz is no more.

LAHORE -- Iconic Tariq Aziz who made his mark as a pioneer television game-show host 'Neelam Ghar' on Pakistan Television (PTV) left for his heavenly abode after suffering a fatal heart-attack here on Wednesday. He was 84.

Tariq Aziz was born in Jalandhar (British Punjab) on April 28,1936 and his family migrated to Pakistan after partition of India in 1947. He got education in Sahiwal (formerly Montgomery) but later moved to Lahore in 1961 to pursue a career at Radio Pakistan as announcer.He breathed his last in the very city which embraced his talents and gave him immense fame.

According to Dr. Mehdi Hasan,who happens to be boyhood friend of late Tariq Aziz and spent many years with him in Sahiwal and Lahore: Tariq Aziz joined Pakistan Television in 1964 and earlier he had come to Lahore to join Radio Pakistan as announcer in 1961. He was, later in 1964, selected as male television presenter by the then Managing Director PTV Aslam Azhar after television was launched.

Tariq Aziz enjoyed the distinction of being the first male television presenter when PTV launched its transmission on 26th November ,1964.

Tariq Aziz, who remained associated with PTV till his last breath, won eternal fame as game-show host of 'Neelam Ghar' - a show he hosted for almost for four decades with few breaks from 1974 till 2012. The show was more of a source of information and knowledge than a mere entertainment program. 'Neelam Ghar' became so synonymous with the persona of Tariq Aziz that the show was re-named as 'Tariq Aziz Show' in 1997 while it was further re-phrased 'Bazm e Tariq' in 2006. 'Bazm e Tariq' holds the record of the longest broadcast television show in Pakistan, besides the first game show in Asia with mass audience and commercial sponsorships.

If versatility could be defined through feats, Tariq Aziz fulfilled all criteria as he was a poet, actor, politician, journalist and a broadcaster who set new standards. He hosted 'Neelam Ghar'...