Mahbub Jamal Zahedi also known as M J Zahedi (21 June 1929 – 7 December 2008) was a veteran journalist and

philatelist Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. While closely associated with stamp collecting and the study of postage, it is possible ...

from

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. During a career of nearly fifty years he served as editor of the ''

Khaleej Times ''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. History and profile A partnership between the U ...

'',

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...

as well the news editor and senior assistant editor of ''

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...

'', Karachi, Pakistan.

Early and personal life

Mahbub Jamal Zahedi was born in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

in 1929. He was the son of Mizanur Rahman, the census commissioner in former

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

. Zahedi studied

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

at the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public university, public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka w ...

. 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

and

West Pakistan West Pakistan was the western province of Pakistan between One Unit, 1955 and Legal Framework Order, 1970, 1970, covering the territory of present-day Pakistan. Its land borders were with Afghanistan, India and Iran, with a maritime border wit ...

in key positions, as well as going on assignments to

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

, Nigeria; Sydney and

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, 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.

1950s

Zahedi started his career in the early 1950s working for the '' Pakistan Observer'' newspaper. By the early 1960s he held the position of assistant editor. He was also a Colombo Plan journalism scholar in Australia in 1955 and worked with the ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

'' and the '' Melbourne Observer''. 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.

1960s

In 1960, Zahedi covered the

UN General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its 79th session, its powers, ...

Session. After his stint with the ''Pakistan Observer'', Zahedi moved to

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

to work in the '' Pakistan Times'', which was then edited by the renowned poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz. He also taught journalism at the

from 1960 to 1962 as a part-time lecturer. 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, quickly moving to ''

'' within the year at the invitation of its editor, Altaf Husain, where he was given the position of news editor.

1970-80s

In 1970, Zahedi was elected Secretary General of Pakistan Writers' Guild. In the same year he also covered the UN enquiry into allegations of genocide in Nigeria. He left ''Dawn'' in 1974 to move to

to help launch the ''

'', the first English newspaper in the

Middle-East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, where with Mahmoud Haroon, he rose to become one of its establishing editors. He held the position of ''Khaleej Times'' editor for over a decade.

1990-2000s

In 1991, Zahedi rejoined ''Dawn'' newspaper, 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.

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 The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Scott catalogue The Scott catalogue of postage stamps, published by Scott Publishing Company, now a subsidiary of Amos Media, is updated annually and lists all the stamps of the world that its editors recognize as issued for postal purposes. It is published in f ...

Death

On 7 December 2008, Zahedi died at age 79 in his bed of natural causes, succumbing to a prolonged paralysis in Karachi, Pakistan. He was bedridden for some time before his death. Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani expressed grief over his death, 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.

Books

* Zahedi, Mahbub Jamal (1997) Fifty Years of Pakistan Stamps, Sanaa Publications, Karachi, Pakistan. * Zahedi, Mahbub Jamal (1994) Gulf post: Story of the post in the Gulf, Sanaa Publications, Karachi, Pakistan

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zahedi, Mahbub Jamal 1929 births 2008 deaths Philatelic literature Pakistani philatelists Pakistani male journalists Bengali writers Pakistani people of Bangladeshi descent Pakistani people of Bengali descent Journalists from Dhaka University of Dhaka alumni Academic staff of the University of Dhaka Dawn (newspaper) people Philately of Pakistan Journalists from Karachi Pakistani expatriates in the United Arab Emirates 20th-century Bengalis 21st-century Bengalis Pakistani magazine founders Muhajir people