Mumbai Veteran journalist and author of 20 books in English and Marathi, Aroon Tikekar, who was an authority on Mumbai, died on Tuesday following respiratory complications. He was 72.

“Dr Aroon Tikekar was one of the finest intellectuals of Mumbai, who enriched the debate on various issues pertaining to Maharashtra with his scholarly and insightful observations,” said the Governor of Maharashtra, Vidyasagar Rao, while expressing his condolences on Tikekar’s demise.

Rao said: “His writings on various issues enlightened the readers. He was an authority on history and his writings reflected his erudition and scholarship. As President of the Asiatic Society, Dr Tikekar took various important decisions including digitisation of the manuscripts and books of the Society.” Tikekar had actively campaigned for funds to restore valuable ancient books that were being damaged by heat, humidity and insects. The Asiatic Society has a collection of over 200,000 books, some of them rare, as well as painted folios, maps and prints.

He was a keen champion of the Marathi language press and inaugurated the Observer Research Foundation’s Maharashtra@50 Study Centre at the Asiatic Society in 2010, when he was its president. In that same year, he criticised the University of Mumbai’s decision to drop Rohinton Mistry’s controversial book “Such a Long Journey” from its syllabus following protests by the Shiv Sena.

Starting off as a college teacher, Tikekar became the Language and Literature Expert and Acquisitions Specialist at the US Library of Congress Office in New Delhi. His career in newspapers started as a Reference Chief with the Times of India and he then went on to become a Senior Assistant Editor with the Maharashtra Times.

Between 1991-2002, he was the editor of the Marathi newspaper Loksatta, published by the Indian Express Group, and in 2009, became the Adjunct Professor at the Department of Journalism and Communications at the University of Pune. He was the former Group Editor of Lokmat and Editor Director of Sakal Group of newspapers.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis condoled his demise saying Tikekar’s contribution to journalism will be remembered. Cultural Affairs Minister Vinod Tawde said Tikekar highlighted various social issues through his articles. The minister also lauded Tikekar’s expertise in Marathi and English.