Firdous Khergamvala, the East Asia correspondent for the Indian newspaper Hindu, died Thursday of lymphoma at a Tokyo hospital, the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan said Monday. He was 54.
The FCCJ, of which Khergamvala was first vice president for 2000-2001, said funeral services were private. His wife, Masako, has asked that there be no flowers or condolence messages at this time.
A native of Pune, India, Khergamvala served in the Indian Army for 16 years.
He served as counselor for political and information affairs in the early 1980s.
He joined the Madras-based Hindu in 1986 and served for eight years as Middle East correspondent based in Bahrain. He covered the Iran-Iraq War and the Persian Gulf War.
Khergamvala became the Hindu's Tokyo-based East Asia correspondent in 1994. He served twice as secretary of the FCCJ before being elected as its first vice president last June.
"Firdous was one of the most dedicated members of the FCCJ," FCCJ President Jim Treece said. "He served on a number of committees and could always be counted on for his diligence and thoroughness."