Z. A. Suleri

Ziauddin Ahmad Suleri (Urdu: ضیاء الدین احمد سلہری; b. 1913–21 April 1999), best known as Z.A. Suleri, was a Pakistani political journalist, conservative writer, author, and Pakistan Movement activist. He is regarded as one of the pioneer of print journalism in Pakistan, and authored various history and political books on Pakistan as well as Islam in the South Asian subcontinent.

Ziauddin Ahmad Suleri
Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Mass-media Broadcasting
In office
6 September 1978 – 5 March 1980
Serving with BGen Siddique Salik, PA
PresidentGeneral Zia-ul-Haq
Editor-in-chief of the Dawn Newspapers
In office
16 August 1965 – 5 September 1965
Preceded byAltaf Husain
Personal details
Born
Ziauddin Ahmad Suleri

1913 (1913)
Quadina, British India
Died22 April 1999 (age 86)
Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
Resting placeNew Karachi Cemetery
NationalityIndian (1913–47), Pakistani (1947–99)
Political partyMuslim League
ChildrenSara Suleri, Shahid Suleri, Tillat Suleri, Irfan Suleri, Ifat Suleri, Nuzhat Suleri
Alma materPunjab University
Patna University
Military service
Nickname(s)Pip
AllegiancePakistan
Branch/service Pakistan Army
Years of service1965–66
RankColonel
Unit17th Army Division
CommandsInter-Services Public Relations
Battles/warsIndo-Pakistani war of 1965

Early life and education

Ziauddin Ahmad Suleri was born in Deoli village of Zafarwal located in the North India region of British India.[1] He was a Rajput Salahria.[2] After his graduation from a school, he briefly studied British literature at Patna University where he obtained BA in English.[3] He moved to Lahore to attend the Punjab University to further study English literature.[3] He earned MA in British literature after compiling a critical and analytical thesis on Great Expectations, written by Charles Dickens.[1]

Political activism and military service

Due to his long attraction to the work of Charles Dickens, he earned the nickname of "Pip" by his family and friends.[1] He moved to Karachi after becoming politically aligned with the Muslim League led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah.[1] In support of the Pakistan Movement, he penned many political columns and opinions in the Orient Press as well as the British Evening Times.[1]

He also authored and published "The Road to Peace and Pakistan" in 1944, and My Leader in 1945; all of which greatly exhorted the political objectives of the Pakistan Movement and the independence from the British India of the British Empire.[1][4] In 1946, he departed to the United Kingdom but returned to Pakistan after the partition by the United Kingdom.[4] Immediately after his return, he was appointed assistance editor of the English language newspaper, the Dawn.[4] He left Dawn when the Pakistan Times was started in 1947, and took the assignment as its correspondent in London.[4] For sometime, he remained associated with the Pakistan Army and briefly served in Inter-Services Public Relations, which he eventually becoming its director-general and achieved the rank of Colonel in 1965.[5]

Career in journalism and ministry

Furthermore, he was appointed as editor of the Pakistan Times in 1966.[6] During this time, he gained conservative consciousness and wrote in support of military governments, capitalism. He penned several articles against the left-oriented Pakistan Peoples Party during the general elections held in 1970.[7] Subsequently, he was removed by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto from the Pakistan Times and was thrown in jail after penning an article against the socialism.

An inquiry launched by the FIA, Suleri was picked up on charges of sedition at the behest of by FIA director M.A. Gurmani, and his case was tried in the Central Jail in Punjab. After the imposition of martial law in 1977, chief of army staff General Zia-ul-Haq released him from the prison and ultimately appointed him at the stint as Editor-in-chief of Pakistan Times.[1] His political ideas further pushed him to be close with the military government whereas he briefly served as additional secretary of the Ministry of Information and Mass-media Broadcasting.[6] During this time, he also served as the chairman of the Quaid-i-Azam Academy. His association with the military government remained close and witness key political events in the lives of Nawaz Sharif and Zia-ul-Haq.[8]

Death

In 1992, he joined the senior staff of the News International which he elevated to become as an Editor-in-chief of the newspaper.[6] Suleri was diagnosed with cancer and heart disease in 1995. In 1999, he died of heart failure in a Jinnah Hospital.[6]

Books
  • Suleri, ZA (1953), Whither Pakistan?, Lahore: Eastern Publications
  • Ahmad Suleri, Ziauddin (1989). Al-Quran : divine book of eternal value. Karachi, Pakistan: Royal Book Co. ISBN 978-9694070803.
  • Ahmad Suleri, Ziauddin (1989). Islam : universal religion. Karachi, Pakistan: Royal Book. ISBN 978-9694071039.
  • Suleri, ZA (1946). My leader: Being an estimate of Mr. Jinnah's work for Indian Mussalmans. Karachi: Lion's Publications.
  • Ahmad, Ziauddin (1994). Influence of Islam on world civilization. Karachi, Pakistan: Royal Book Co. ISBN 978-9694071640.
  • Suleri, Ziauddin Ahmad (1950). Atheism in Pakistan. Lahore: Pioneer Publishers.
  • Suler, Z.A. (1978). Influence of Islam on western civilization. Islamabad: National Book Foundation; 1st ed edition (1978).
  • Suleri, Z. Ahmad (1962). Pakistan's lost years;: Being a survey of a decade of politics, 1948–1958. Progressive Papers (1962).
  • Suleri, Ziauddin A. (1945). The road to peace and Pakistan,. Karachi, Sindh: Sh. M. Ashraf Publishing Co.
  • Suleri, Z.A. (1964). Politicians & Ayub: Being a Survey of Pakistani Politics from 1948 to 1964. Lion Art Press (1964).
  • Suleri, Z. A. (1990). Shaheed-e-Millat Liaquat Ali Khan: Builder of Pakistan. Lahore: Royal Book Co.
  • Suleri, Z.Ahmad (1974). Quaid-i-Millat Liaquat Ali Khan, Leader and Statesman. Lahore: Oriental Academy.

His unfinished biography

When ZA Suleri wanted to write his autobiography, he chose Boys Will Be Boys as its title. The autobiography never materialised, and after his death when his daughter, Sara Suleri, decided to write a tribute to him, she gave this title to the book.

Sources and references
  1. Ponzanesi, Sandra (2004). Paradoxes of postcolonial culture contemporary women writers of the Indian and Afro-Italian diaspora. Albany: State University of New York Press. ISBN 0791462013.
  2. Commonwealth: Biographies, 5, 24, Société d'études des pays du Commonwealth, 2001, 4dkHAQAAMAAJ
  3. Suleri, Sara (2013). Boys will be Boys. Chicago, US.: University of Chicago Press. p. 136. ISBN 9780226044675.
  4. Suleri, ZA (1945). My leader. Karachi, Sindh, British Indian Empire: Lion press. pp. 174.
  5. ISPR Press Release. "List of Director Generals of the Inter-Services Public Relations". Govt. of Pakistan and the Directorate-General of the Inter-Services Public Relations. Directorate-General of the Inter-Services Public Relations. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  6. Obituaries (Webdesk) (22 April 1999). "Z.A. Suleri passes away". Pakistan Press Foundations. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  7. Editorial. "The break-up of Pakistan, Establishment's Propagandists, and Z.A. Bhutto". State of Pakistan Press. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  8. Jaswant Singh (2 May 2004). "Father, dear father". Tribune India. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
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