Pakistan’s First Female Journalist Shahida Kazi Dies At 79

Prominent Pakistani journalist and academic, Shahida Kazi, the nation’s first female correspondent, has passed away at the age of 79 in Karachi following an illness.

She had been undergoing medical treatment at Karachi’s Dr. Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital. Funeral prayers are scheduled to take place after her last rites during the Zuhr prayer, followed by her burial at the KU graveyard.

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Born in 1944 into the family of the renowned scholar Allama Kazi II in Karachi, Shahida Kazi hailed from a village near Dadu in Sindh. She completed her matriculation at St. Lawrence Convent School and later graduated from St. Joseph’s College in 1963.

Despite being encouraged by her family to pursue higher education, she decided to attend the University of Karachi for advanced studies. Unlike her female cousins, she did not choose a career in medicine and declined the opportunity to take the Superior Services examination for entry into the federal bureaucracy. Her passion for English literature led her to apply to the newly established Department of Journalism at the University of Karachi, where she discovered that she was not only the sole female student in the department but also the first woman to enroll in the field of journalism.

In 1966, she received a job offer from the city editor of Dawn, a prominent English-language daily newspaper. At that time, she was the first woman to work in that role, and she remained convinced throughout her life that the role of the press in reporting was more significant than that of television channels. She also served as a news producer and senior news editor at Pakistan Television Corporation for 20 years and contributed to Radio Pakistan.

Following her retirement from the University of Karachi, she transitioned to academia, teaching at various private sector universities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she decided to remain at home and begin writing her memoirs.

In February of this year, she launched her autobiography titled ‘Sweet, Sour & Bitter: A Life Well Lived’ at the Karachi Press Club. The event was attended by many of her students, faculty members from universities that teach journalism and mass communication, human rights activists, and seasoned journalists.