OBITUARY: Zubeida Mustafa: adieu to a trailblazer
A PIONEER in women’s journalism in Pakistan and a dedicated voice for the marginalised, Zubeida Mustafa passed away on Wednesday evening in Karachi. She was 84.
Known to her colleagues at Dawn as ‘Mrs Mustafa’ or ‘ZM’, she spent 33 years at the paper, retiring in 2008 after serving as assistant editor.
During her over three-decade tenure at Dawn, Mrs Mustafa helped bring out numerous supplements and satellite publications such as the education page and Books & Authors, the first dedicated English-language magazine focusing on book reviews and literary matters brought out by a mainstream paper in the country.
ZM was educated at St Joseph’s Convent in Karachi, and later attained a Master’s degree in International Relations from Karachi University. She also attended the London School of Economics, but could not complete her studies at that institution.
She began her professional life at the Karachi-based Pakistan Institute of International Affairs, and was later approached by Dawn‘s editor Ahmad Ali Khan to work at the paper. She considered Khan Sahib a major influence, and in an interview with Newsline termed him “a very progressive man and a champion of women’s rights“.
But as Zohra Yusuf noted in a review of ZM’s autobiography, “in her own quiet way, [she] exercised a significant influence on the newspaper’s journey”. This included bringing the “women’s perspective” to the paper’s editorials. Zubeida Mustafa’s editorials, and later columns, focused on a wide variety of subjects, including international affairs, education and issues of the marginalised and the downtrodden.
As Dawn’s op-ed editor Ayesha Azfar, who worked with Mrs Mustafa noted, “Her last column for op-ed appeared in March this year, after which she was finding it increasingly difficult because of her failing health. She was legally visually impaired, and it is remarkable the way she managed to do her columns, to regularly attend seminars, and keep up her interest in education — she wrote a book on that — women, and health amongst other subjects.”
ZM edited numerous books and wrote two: her aforementioned biography My DAWN Years — Exploring Social Issues and Reforming School Education in Pakistan & the Language Dilemma. She was recognised for her professional work through various local and international awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award presented to her by the International Women’s Media Foundation in 2012.
Pakistan Herald Publications Limited had launched an award named after her in 2013, titled the ZM Award For Journalistic Excellence to recognise her contribution “both to Dawn and to the field of journalism in Pakistan”.
Activist and columnist Naeem Sadiq said he knew Zubeida Mustafa for 30 years. “She was a good friend. She had lunch with us about a month ago and wanted to come again. She was a great woman, it is the nation’s loss. She taught us values and professional ethics. She was a very progressive lady. She wrote on human rights, issues of the handicapped. She set standards in ethics and morality,” he observed.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan mourned her loss and observed that she “championed social, cultural and language rights like few. She was a comrade-in-arms and stood by the disadvantaged and oppressed”.
A condolence statement from the Karachi Press Club noted that she “was not just a journalist; she was an institution”.
“Her work on social issues, education, and health was particularly impactful, demonstrating her deep empathy and dedication to improving the lives of ordinary citizens,” KPC President Fazil Jamili and Secretary Sohail Afzal Khan said, adding that she leaves a “legacy that will continue to inspire generations of journalists”.
Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2025
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