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hat better way to educate society than to hold a discourse. And what better discourse can there be than literature. Who does not like listening to stories especially stories that re based on facts, are compelling and are imaginatively crafted,” wrote Zubeida Mustafa in her introduction to a new novel titled Queen Zarqa: A Transgender’s Odyssey.
The words encapsulate much of her quest and philosophy. The book itself, just released by Lightstone Publishers, Karachi, speaks to the kind of human connections she built all her life, and the initiatives she catalysed.
When she went to meet with the trans- activist Bindiya Rana some two years ago, she took her ‘problem solver’ Shama Askari for note-taking. Askari has long been associated with Sheema Kermani’s Tehrik-i-Niswan as well as with Lightstone founder Ameena Saiyid’s Adab Festival.
Queen Zarqa, launched at Karachi Arts Council last Thursday, is Shama’s translation and adaptation of the Urdu translation of the Pushto novel Nainzak by Hayat Roghaani.
Zubeida had started her career as a research officer at the Pakistan Institute of International Affairs in the 1960s, before taking a break to tend to her two daughters. Later, when she was looking for work in 1975, Ahmed Ali Khan, editor of the daily Dawn invited her to join the paper as an assistant editor.This lateral entry brought her at par with longtime journalist Ghazi Salahuddin, who was also an assistant editor. Zubeida was the first woman in the Dawn newsroom and editorial board.
“She brought in a new perspective due to her academic background,” says Ghazi Salahuddin. “It was a learning process for both of us. Mrs Mustafa inspired colleagues to take things more seriously, ask more questions, dig deeper.”
He was speaking at an intimate gathering last week to honour Zubeida Mustafa at the Karachi apartment of our mutual friend, educationist Baela Jamil. There isn’t space here to list all those who joined to share their personal memories of Zubeida Apa or ZM as some referred to her. Many reiterated that Zubeida lives — through her work, ideas and inspiration.
That she was Zubeida to a host of young women like me who entered journalism a decade after her is a reflection of the changing times. The earlier culture of formality was giving way to one marked by dissent, iconoclasm and subversiveness. Catalysed by the repressive policies of Gen Zia-ul Haq’s military regime, the women’s movement in Pakistan had begun. There was a spirit of intergenerational camaraderie. We were all in this together.
The editorial offices of The Star and Dawn were on the same floor in a stolid grey building called Haroon House. Monthly The Herald led by the legendary Razia Bhatti who went on to co-found Newsline, was also there. So was Urdu daily Hurriyat where the celebrated writer Anwar Maqsood worked.
The Star was edited by Imran Aslam — later editor of The News, and president of Geo TV. Zohra Yusuf headed The Star Weekend before being “kicked upstairs” during the Zia regime. Afia Salam was on the news side, along with sports reporter Zaffar Abbas, now the Dawn editor, and the veteran reporter Idris Bakhtiar. We youngsters also referred to Razia, Zohra and Imran by their first names; Idris Bakhtiar was “Idris Sahib.”
Zohra and Saneeya Hussain who succeeded her were unabashedly part of the Women’s Action Forum. Colleagues like Zubeida and Razia solidly supported the cause in various ways.There was a growing consensus that women’s voices should be featured in all sections instead of being relegated to a “women’s page” as had been the norm.
Zubeida proved her professional potential in many ways, not least by introducing regular sections on health, careers and entertainment. The most well-known of these was Books & Authors, for which she received an award from the Pakistan Publishers and Booksellers Association in 2005.
The Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation presented to Zubeida in 2012, four years after she left Dawn, speaks for the respect she universally commanded.
Words that come to mind when thinking of Zubeida are integrity, courage, decency, commitment to the finest human values and optimism.
Yet the management bypassed her when it was time to appoint a new editor, upholding the entrenched patriarchal mindset which she battled all her life.
The IWMF has only awarded two Pakistanis so far, Zubeida and Razia. Razia got the Courage in Journalism Award in 1994, also conferred in 2002 on the veteran Canadian reporter Kathy Gannon, an honorary Pakistani.
Zubeida retired from a 33-year-long journalistic career in 2008. Her eyesight was deteriorating and she was involved in many education-related causes. She continued diligently writing her regular column, volunteering with causes related to education, and authored several books, including her memoir My Dawn Years: Exploring Social Issues (2008) and the groundbreaking Tyranny of Language in Education: The Problem and Its Solution (2011) critiquing language policy in Pakistan’s schools.
In 1986, she reached out to my mother, Zakia Sarwar, then a training and development officer at the newly launched Aga Khan School of Nursing, who had co-founded the Society of Pakistan English Language Teachers in 1984. Zubeida became a lifelong supporter of SPELT.
She also supported other education-related NGOs, like Baela Reza Jamil’s Idara-i-Taleem-o-Aagahi, Sadiqa Salahuddin’s Indus Resource Centre and The Garage School, a philanthropic education initiative started by Shabina Mustafa to educate the poorest children in a Karachi neighbourhood. All three, coincidentally, started around the same time, more than 25 years ago.
Another nonprofit she supported was the Ali Hasan Mangi Memorial Trust started by business journalist Naween Mangi in KhairoDero, Larkana district, which now serves over 90 villages in the area. Is it a coincidence that all these ventures are women-initiated and women-led?
After retiring, Zubeida taught voluntarily at The Garage School once a week. Shabina tells the story of one little boy who was constantly angry and disruptive. Although unable to see, Zubeida sensed there was something wrong and took him to a doctor. The intervention transformed the child’s life — he was deaf. He changed overnight after being fitted with a hearing aid.
Despite being an English language writer, Zubeida firmly believed in the importance of allowing children to learn in their mother tongues. She would share Urdu texts with the students and find creative ways to engage them. These include a theatre experiment that she wrote about in her last column for Dawn in March this year.
When IRC, which operates in Khairpur and other districts, appealed for people to donate a goat instead of sacrificing animals after the 2010 floods, Zubeida supported the idea wholeheartedly. The tradition has continued. Zubeida’s cheque “was the first to arrive every year,” says Sadiqa Apa.
Her failing eyesight did not deter Zubeida from traveling to project areas in Sindh and other places. Her thirst for learning led her to start acquiring Sindhi over the last few years.
Her “teacher” was physics professor Gauri Lila Ram in Karachi. No social media posts were allowed about this language learning experiment, interestingly at the other end of the spectrum from early childhood learning, another issue Zubeida was so passionately interested in. Gauri also remembers Zubeida’s sense of humour and her guffaws of laughter.
Words that come to mind when thinking of Zubeida are integrity, courage, decency, commitment to the finest human values and optimism. She even found a positive aspect to losing eyesight — “I can concentrate better,” she told writer Sumera Naqvi.
The last time I saw Zubeida was at the Karachi Literature Festival in February this year, at a panel discussion on Heroes in Frames: Pakistani Icons Get a Graphic Makeover, featuring the Oxford University Press series of illustrated children’s books introducing young readers to inspirational Pakistanis. Artist and educationist Rumana Husain who moderated the panel, wrote and illustrated the edition featuring Zubeida, tells her life story.
I’m glad she was honoured in her lifetime. We need more of that positivity.
It’s also wonderful to learn about Chatting with Dadi, a ‘dialogue book’ initiated by her teenage grand-niece Alexandra Wasti in Canada in 2023, with 40 questions to Zubeida.
“This book I will print out and bind for myself, my family as well as send you a digital copy so that your words continue to touch people and bring light into their lives. Even in 20 or 50 years from now, I am confident that the work you have done will continue to make an impact in this world,” wrote Alexandra in an email to Zubeida.
Amen. The book, envisaged as a personal project, is now under publication by Lightstone.
May Zubeida’s dream of education reform in Pakistan be fulfilled.
Beena Sarwar is the founding editor of The News on Sunday, founder editor of Sapannews.com, and co-founder and curator Southasiapeace.com.