City’s big names and small attend funeral for media icon Mohammad Ahmed Zuberi

Prayers offered by politicians, writers, journalists, actors, bureaucrats and even former employees.

KARACHI: People from all walks of life came to pay their last respects to media icon Mohammad Ahmed Zuberi at his funeral held at the Masjid Noorul Islam in Zamzama after Zohar prayers on Monday afternoon.

Prayers were offered by politicians, writers, journalists, actors, bureaucrats and even former chauffeurs of the Business Recorder and Aaj TV founder.

A delegation of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) led by Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping Babar Khan Ghauri also came. The attendance of the MQM team which included MNA Waseem Akhtar was prominent given the background that during the party’s rule under General (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s regime, Aaj TV offices were attacked on May 12, 2007.

Speaker of the Sindh Assembly Nisar Khuhro, former federal finance minister Shaukat Tarin, former Sindh governor Mamnoon Hussain, lawyer Sharifuddin Pirzada, TV artist Rashid Sami and former information minister Javed Jabbar also said the Namaz-e-Janaza. Pakistan Peoples Party’s Karachi division president Latif Mughal was also spotted in the large gathering.

Jabbar said Zuberi had made two distinctive contributions to journalism in Pakistan: “He was truly ahead of his time. He was able to anticipate the need for independent journalism, focusing on the political economy, business, trade and finance well before anyone had even thought about it.”

According to Jabbar, the other major contribution was Zuberi’s commitment to a code of ethics which the journalist wanted all media groups in Pakistan to follow. He recalled how Zuberi had expressed his passion for media laws and regulations at a time when Jabbar was writing a book on the subject. “His sense of entrepreneurship and enterprising vision to venture into the electronic media also gives him a special position,” Jabbar added.

Apart from a large number of staff members from the Business Recorder and Aaj TV, personalities from other media houses also came including daily Dawn’s editor Zaffar Abbas. A number of bankers, including National Bank of Pakistan president Ali Raza and senior members of the Karachi Stock Exchange also attended the last rites.

A special prayer was said at the burial ground in the compound of Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s mazaar, where the journalist was laid to rest. A dua ceremony will be held on Tuesday between Asr and Maghrib prayers at the Zuberi residence opposite Mohatta palace in Clifton.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2010.