Khanum suffered heart attack while driving her car to Karachi Press Club where she would play chess on every Tuesday afternoon. She breathed her last near the Governor's House after she felt pain in chest and stepped out of her car, asking for water to consume medicines, according to the eyewitnesses, who served her. Her body was shifted to a private hospital.
Born in Pune, Maharashtra, India, in 1943, Khanum was among female pioneers in Pakistani journalism, She began her career with Dawn in 1966 as a reporter after she obtained masters degree in English literature from University of Karachi in the same year. She worked for The Evening Star as its editor. She also worked for Morning News and The Sun on senior positions.
That she was highly committed to her work despite her failing health is a fact that has found its best expression from the hard copy of an article found in her belongings. She had penned it for this week's Weekend magazine of the newspaper.
In no time did she become so completely assimilated into the journalistic workforce that she need no longer be regarded as the one belonging to a separate group. She would often say that "you cannot describe a journalist as a man journalist or a woman journalist; a journalist is only a journalist". She was widely known for her love for typewriters. Despite the end of era of this ageing machine, she still regularly used her typewriter that she could write her insightful analyses and comments on. Her conduct was guided by deep journalistic ethics.
The management and editorial staff of Business Recorder have expressed profound grief and sorrow over her death.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017