KARACHI: Zaheer Alam Kidvai, one of the pioneers of computer education in Pakistan, passed away peacefully at home on Friday. He was 85.

News of his passing comes only three months after the death of his wife, the prominent women’s rights activist Nuzhat Kidvai. Zaheer was not doing well health wise after Nuzhat’s demise.

He leaves behind a daughter, Ragni, who is settled abroad. Funeral details will be shared later after his daughter arrives.

Born in 1940 in Rasal Ganj, Aligarh, Zaheer moved with his parents to different places every third or fourth month. He never knew what home was. In 1945, his father was posted in Iraq. At the time of Partition, his father returned to Delhi, where he ran a private clinic, but found that their house and his clinic had been burned to the ground. That is when he decided to sail for Karachi. The family reached Karachi in October 1947.

Zaheer joined the Merchant Navy in 1964. He was the youngest Merchant Navy captain in Pakistan. He married his cousin Nuzhat for love in 1970, and they sailed together in the Merchant Navy. He left the Merchant Navy in 1989 when his mother passed away.

Zaheer introduced computers in schools and universities in 1980s. He set up Pakistan’s first computer company to teach computer classes in schools as well as sell computers and software. He became the pioneer of the new media in Pakistan. In the first year of establishing the company, Beyond Information Technology Solutions’ (BITS), he sold over 100 computers.

Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2025