KARACHI: Friends and colleagues gathered at the Centre for Excellence in Journalism at the Institute of Business Administration (CEJIBA) on Thursday to remember veteran journalist and former assistant editor at Dawn newspaper Zubeida Mustafa.

On the occasion, director of CEJ Shahzeb Jillani said that it was senior journalist Umber Khairi`s idea to organise such a programme for Mrs Zubeida. He was of the opinion that warrior classes honour their heroes as do so many other professions but journalists hardly ever pay tribute to one another. He said it would be interesting to hear about how newspapers used to be run back in 1975 when Mrs Mustafa joined Dawn. He observed that Mrs Mustafa belonged to that breed of journalists who kept a low profile themselves as they let their writings speak for themselves.

Senior journalist Ghazi Salahuddin, who was already working in Dawn as assistant editor when Mrs Mustafa joined said that she also joined the writing side for penning daily edito-rials and with her background of an academic researcher, she brought a new dimension to journalism. `Journalism is also known as literature in haste. But because of her we took care to double check facts. The Dawn reference library was also developed and expanded by her as research mattered,` he said.

Journalist and academic Muna Khan said that she has Mrs Mustafa to thank for breaking her in.

`I was made in-charge of Dawn`s weekly magazine The Review and Mrs Mustafa would come over and ask me things as I wondered why as I didn`t report to her, Muna laughed. `But after passing her tests we became buddies. She was my ally,` she said.

Sumera Naqvi who worked with Mrs Mustafa in Dawn`s literary magazine Books & Authors said that she was larger than life. `Working with her also meant experiencing tough love but she was also very caring. She bettered life for her colleagues and subordinates and fought for their rights, too. She was an agent of change, she said.

Artist and writer Rumana Husain said that Mrs Mustafa was amazing as even with failingeyesight she would not let it come in the way of her work. `She saw everything from the heart`s eye,` she said.

Journalist Rizwana Naqvi, another of Mrs Mustafa`s colleagues from Dawn, said that she used to contribute book reviews for Books & Authors, which Mrs Mustafa would edit. `I would study the changes she made in my reviews, which made me a better sub-editor myself.

Feminist writer and poet Attiya Dawood said that she knew Mrs Mustafa through her husband K.B. Abro, who was Dawn`s artist, illustrator and visualiser, and also through her own writings as Mrs Mustafa would get her books reviewed.

Journalist Zofeen T. Ebrahim recalled that she used to write in longhand initially as her thought process worked better that way. `But Mrs Mustafa insisted I learn to type. Now my thought process works better when I type,` she shared.

Journalist Khursheed Hyder said that there are very few people in the world who push others ahead and Mrs Mustafa was one of them.

`She always made time for us and alwaysencouraged us,` she said.

Academic Tahira Abid said that she had spent two or three days with Mrs Mustafa when she was volunteering with Indus Resource Centre during the 2010 floods and Mrs Mustafa was writing about the calamity.

`She told me then that she was learning braille because her eyesight was failing rapidly,` she said.

Architect Mukhtar Husain said that Mrs Mustafa`s caring nature made him feel like family. `Whenever we met, she would inquire about my work and my family. I value and cherish her friendship,` he said.

A heartfelt note by one of Mrs Mustafa`s mentees and young friends, Deneb Sumbul, who could not be there, but who had also helped her with the proofing of some of her books, was also read out on the occasion.

Finally Mrs Mustafa`s eldest sister Dr Fatema Jawad spoke about their upbringing. She said that their father was the Director General of Pakistan Railways and their mother a homemaker, who instilled in their four children good habits and values. `They also instilled in us honesty and punctuality,` she said.