Mahbub Jamal Zahedi

Last updated • 3 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Mahbub Jamal Zahedi
محبوب جمال زاہدی
Portrait of MJ Zahedi.jpg
Zahedi
Born
Mabub Jamal Rahman

(1929-06-21)21 June 1929
Dhaka, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died7 December 2008(2008-12-07) (aged 79)
Karachi, Pakistan
Nationality Pakistani
Alma mater University of Dhaka
Employers
Notable work
  • Fifty Years of Pakistan Stamps
  • Gulf post: Story of the post in the Gulf
SpouseQamarunnisa Begum
Children3

Mahbub Jamal Zahedi also known as M J Zahedi (21 June 1929 – 7 December 2008) was a veteran journalist [1] [2] and philatelist from Pakistan. During a career of nearly fifty years he served as editor of the Khaleej Times , Dubai, UAE as well the news editor and senior assistant editor of Dawn , Karachi, Pakistan. [1] [2]

Contents

Early and personal life

Mahbub Jamal Zahedi was born in Dhaka in 1929. He was the son of Mizanur Rahman, the census commissioner in former East Pakistan. [3] Zahedi studied English Literature at the University of Dhaka. He was married to Qamarunissa Begum, and had two daughters, Jamila and Selina, and a son, Dilawar. In 2003, Zahedi suffered a stroke that rendered him paralysed and bedridden.

Career

Mahbub Jamal Zahedi had a journalistic career that spanned nearly five decades. He served in several newspapers in the then East Pakistan and West Pakistan in key positions, as well as going on assignments to Lagos, Nigeria; Sydney and Melbourne, Australia and Beijing, China. Due to his left-wing views, he was jailed on several occasions. He was also the founder and editor of the popular Bangladeshi periodical The Agatya , in then East Pakistan. [4]

1950s

Zahedi started his career in the early 1950s working for the Pakistan Observer . [1] [2] By the early 1960s he held the position of assistant editor. [3]

He was also a Colombo Plan journalism scholar in Australia in 1955 and worked with the Sydney Morning Herald and the Melbourne Gazette .[ citation needed ]

On 7 October 1958, he was arrested late at night near Purana Paltan, Dhaka, his then place of residence, while returning home after finishing some routine desk work. The reason for the arrest was the publication of a controversial story reading that the Constitution of Pakistan of 1956 had been abrogated by Iskandar Mirza.[ citation needed ]

1960s

In 1960, Zahedi covered the UN General Assembly Session. After his stint with the Pakistan Observer, Zahedi moved to Lahore to work in the Pakistan Times , which was then edited by the renowned poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz. He also taught journalism at the University of Dhaka from 1960 to 1962 as a part-time lecturer.[ citation needed ]

After Pakistan Times was taken over by the National Press Trust, he served for a short period with the Civil and Military Gazette in 1963, [2] quickly moving to Dawn within the year at the invitation of its editor, Altaf Husain, where he was given the position of news editor.[ citation needed ]

1970-80s

In 1970, Zahedi was elected Secretary General of Pakistan Writers' Guild. [5] In the same year he also covered the UN enquiry into allegations of genocide in Nigeria.[ citation needed ]

He left Dawn in 1974 to move to Dubai to help launch the Khaleej Times , the first English newspaper in the Middle-East, where with Mahmoud Haroon he rose to become one of its establishing editors. [2] He held the position of Khaleej Times editor for over a decade.

1990-2000s

In 1991, Zahedi rejoined Dawn, this time as assistant editor. He published both his books on philately in the mid-90s. He retired from journalism in 2001 following a stroke.[ citation needed ]

Philatelist

Zahedi is the author of two books, one on Pakistan's stamps and the other on the stamps of Gulf nations. He also published articles on the subject in some of the world's most prestigious related magazines, including Britain's Gibbons Stamp Monthly and America's Scott catalogue.

Death

On 7 December 2008, Zahedi died in bed of natural causes, succumbing to a prolonged paralysis.

Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani expressed grief over his demise, and offered condolences to his family. He also eulogized Zahedi's valuable contribution in the field of journalism within and outside of Pakistan, which he said would be long remembered. [6]

Books

Related Research Articles

Tahir Mirza was a senior Pakistani journalist and former editor of Dawn, Pakistan's oldest and most widely circulated English-language newspaper. He became resident editor of this newspaper in Lahore in 1994 and worked as a correspondent in Washington, DC, before becoming editor of the newspaper in Karachi after the retirement of its noted editor Ahmed Ali Khan in 2003.

Hasan Abidi was a Pakistani journalist, writer, political activist and an Urdu language poet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shahidullah Kaiser</span> Bangladeshi novelist and writer

Shahidullah Kaiser was a Bangladeshi novelist and writer. He was awarded Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1969, Ekushey Padak in 1983 and Independence Day Award in 1998.

<i>Khaleej Times</i> Daily English language newspaper in UAE

Khaleej Times is a daily English language newspaper published in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Launched on 16 April 1978, Khaleej Times is the UAE's longest-running English daily newspaper.

Altaf Husain was an educationist, journalist, and Pakistan Movement activist. He is noted as one of the pioneers of print journalism in Pakistan and was the founding editor and the first editor-in-chief of English-language newspaper, Dawn, which he edited for almost twenty years.

Khaled Al Maeena is a veteran Saudi journalist, commentator, businessman and the former editor-in-chief of the Saudi Gazette. He is regarded as a liberal. He is also the patron of Muslim Mirror.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mahfuz Anam</span> Bangladeshi journalist

Mahfuz Anam is a Bangladeshi journalist. He serves as editor and publisher of The Daily Star, one of Bangladesh's largest circulating English-language newspapers. After working in the United Nations for 14 years, Anam co-founded the newspaper with his mentor Syed Mohammad Ali in 1991 during Bangladesh's democratic transition. His criticism of the country's two largest political parties and the military has often resulted in him being sued; Anam dismisses the charges and the suits as attacks on press freedom. He was elected for a second term as chairman of the Asia News Network in 2022 and 2023.

Ali Muhammad Rashdi (Urdu: پیر علی محمد راشدی was a Pakistani writer, journalist, politician, parliamentarian, and diplomat. Notably, he served as Pakistan's ambassador to the Philippines from 1957 to 1961 and to China from 1961 to 1962. Rashdi also held ministerial positions in Sindh and served as the central minister for information and broadcasting, and the elder brother of scholar Hassam-ud-Din Rashidi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qazi Motahar Hossain</span> Bangladeshi writer and scientist (1897–1981)

Qazi Motahar Hossain was a Bangladeshi writer, scientist, statistician, chess player, and journalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Postage stamps and postal history of Pakistan</span>

Postage stamps of Pakistan are those issued since Pakistan's independence in 1947. Pakistan Post has issued more than 600 sets and singles totalling more than 1300 stamps. Immediately after the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the new Pakistan government was preoccupied with setting up the government so British Indian stamps continued in use without an overprint as was the practice in other countries.

Syed Muhammed Abul Faiz is a Bangladeshi academic. He served as the 26th vice-chancellor of the University of Dhaka serving from September 2002 until January 2009. Though an academic and a scientific researcher by profession, Abul Faiz was also the chairman of the Public Service Commission of Bangladesh before his tenure as the vice-chancellor.

Mahbūb Mahboob(also spelled Mahboob, or Mehboob, from Arabic: مَحبُوب, passed to other languages such as Urdu: محبوب is a masculine given name.

Bengalis in Pakistan are ethnic Bengali people who had lived in either West Pakistan or East Pakistan prior to 1971 or live in present-day Pakistan. Most Pakistani Bengalis, are bilingual speaking both Urdu and Bengali and are mainly settled in Karachi. Bengalis that arrived in Pakistan before 1971 have now assimilated with the Urdu-speaking people in Karachi.

Mahbub Ali Khan was a Bangladesh Navy rear admiral and the chief of naval staff from 1979 until his death in 1984. He is known for his heroic actions for his country. Under him, the South Talpatti sandbar and other emerging islands in the Bay of Bengal, over which both India and Bangladesh claimed sovereignty, remained under the authority of Bangladesh. He is also known for reducing piracy in the Bay of Bengal and was responsible for maintaining the security of the Bay and the Sundarbans.

The Civil and Military Gazette was a daily English-language newspaper founded in 1872 in British India. It was published from Lahore, Simla and Karachi, some times simultaneously, until its closure in 1963. The archives are owned by Lahore-based businessman Humayun Naseer Shaikh and have been digitized by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's Citizens Archive of Pakistan.

Hassan Shahriar was a Bangladeshi journalist, columnist, and political analyst.

Syed Mahbub Murshed was a Bangladeshi lawyer and jurist. He served as the Chief Justice of East Pakistan High Court during 1964–1967.

Ahmad Ali Khan was a veteran Pakistani journalist who was also the editor of Dawn newspaper for 28 years.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Journalist Zahedi passes away". The Financial Express . Bangladesh. 8 July 2010. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "MJ Zahedi no more". The Daily Star . Bangladesh. 26 December 2008. Archived from the original on 4 December 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Letters to the Editor". Dawn . 13 December 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2010.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. Haque, Syed Badrul, Agattya, mosquitoes and more. in The Daily Star 6 October 2004 Retrieved on 8 July 2010.
  5. Mohanta, Sambaru Chandra (2012). "Pakistan Writers Guild". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  6. Prime Minister offers condolence over demise Archived 18 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine , Retrieved 9 September 2010.