KARACHI, Aug 26: Mrs Zeenat Rashid Ahmed, founder of the Pakistan Federation of University Women (PFUW) and one of the co-founders of the All Pakistan Women’s Association, passed away here on Friday. She was 89.

Mrs Zeenat Rashid made a pioneering contribution to education and women’s development in the country. She was the founder of the Karachi College for Women and a co-founder of the Apwa College for Women. She served as principal of the Government College for Women, Karachi, for over 10 years, up to 1968.

Recipient of Sitara-i-Quaid-i-Azam and Tamgha-i-Khidmat, she was the first Muslim woman to study at Cambridge University, UK.

Keenly interested in promoting women’s education, she helped establish institutions and took part in efforts for women’s training and empowerment. As PFUW founder president for about three decades, she developed the federation into a valuable forum for advancement of senior teachers and scholars. She helped establish chapters of PFUW in the then East Pakistan and made it a prominent part of an international network of cooperation.

Mrs Zeenat Rashid represented Pakistan at international conferences in several states.

She was wife of Syed Rashid Ahmed, former director-general Radio Pakistan. She has left behind two daughters, Shabnam Jabbar and Raana Zafar, and five grandchildren.

Her soyem will be held on Sunday between Asr and Maghrib prayers, at 57, Street 21, off Khayaban-i-Mujahid, Phase 5 DHA, Karachi.—PPI