KARACHI: Feb 12: A condolence reference for M.A. Zuberi, a veteran journalist and one of the founding members of the Karachi Press Club (KPC), was held at the club on Saturday.

Speaking at the reference, Mr Zuberi’s eldest son, Wamiq Zuberi, said his father’s life could be divided into three phases — the Second World War phase when he hadn’t joined journalism; 1945 when he became a journalist, and the time when from 1963 to 1965 he didn’t have a regular job until April 1965, when the first edition of Business Recorder came out; and when he wore the hat of a newspaper owner.

He said the strength of Mr  Zuberi was in his organisational ability. “He was an organiser par excellence.” When the first Indo-Pak mushaira was being arranged, he was asked to organise it, he said. He said he had never seen his father so miserable after he retired from Dawn, until he started Business Recorder.

To Mr Zuberi, the most valuable asset of any institution was its workforce, and he used to proceed on the basis the manpower he had, Wamiq told the gathering. He recalled that in 2000, everything in his office was burnt down, yet his father managed to make it functional in no time. He said the late journalist was a hard task master, a strict disciplinarian and, at the same time, a patient person. He had a great sense of balance, tremendous will power and boundless energy, he added.

Another son, Arshad Zuberi, touched upon the foundation of the APNS.

He said though his father didn’t encourage him to write, it was his friends like Zameer Niazi and Abul Akhyar who asked him to put pen to paper.

His third son, Asif Zuberi, thanked the club for organising the reference and said his father was his teacher.

Journalist Sarfaraz Ahmed said Mr Zuberi remained active till he breathed his last. His contribution to the world of journalism was that he was the pioneer of financial journalism.

Umar Latif, Hasan Abbas, Raja Kamran, Siraj Ahmed, Maqsood Yousufi and Tahir Hasan Khan also spoke.

Moosa Kaleem conducted the programme.