Ardeshir Cowasjee (13 April 1926 – 24 November 2012) ( ur, ) was a Pakistani newspaper

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (newspaper), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the fo ...

, social activist, and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

. Belonging from Karachi, his columns regularly appeared in the country's oldest English newspaper, '' Dawn''. He was also the Chairman of the

Cowasjee Group The Cowasjee family is one of the oldest families settled in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. They owned the East & West Steamship Company, the oldest shipping company in Pakistan, established in 1883. Background The Cowasjees are a Parsi Zoroastri ...

and was engaged in philanthropic activities in addition to being regarded as an old "guardian" of the city of Karachi. On 3 November 2013, Institute of Business Administration, Karachi launched the Ardeshir Cowasjee Centre for Writing in his honor.

Biography

Cowasjee was born on 13 April 1926 in Karachi to the

Cowasjee The Cowasjee family is one of the oldest families settled in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. They owned the East & West Steamship Company, the oldest shipping company in Pakistan, established in 1883. Background The Cowasjees are a Parsi Zoroastri ...

Parsi ( Zoroastrian) family. His father, Rustom Fakirjee Cowasjee, was a businessman in merchant shipping, and the family spoke

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

at home. Ardeshir attended the Bai Virbaiji Soparivala (BVS) Parsi High School and graduated from

DJ Science College Dayaram Jethamal Sindh Government Science College, ( sd, ) commonly known as DJ Science College, is a public community college that is affiliated with the University of Karachi — it is located near Burns Road in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Pre ...

, Karachi. Later, he joined his father's business, the

. In 1953, he married Nancy Dinshaw, with whom he had two children – Ava (daughter) and Rustom (son).

Career

Cowasjee owned a family run shipping company, that at the time of the

independence of Pakistan The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the per ...

was Karachi's largest shipping company. This shipping company was nationalized during

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and Politician, statesman who served as ...

's premiership. He was appointed by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as Managing Director of Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) in 1973. He was jailed for 72 days in 1976 by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto for which no explanation has been given to date; it is said that Prime Minister Bhutto did this because Cowasjee was becoming increasingly vocal about Bhutto's authoritarian ways. Cowasjee subsequently started writing letters to the editor of ''Dawn'' newspaper, which led to him becoming a permanent columnist. Since then, his hard-hitting and well-researched columns in ''Dawn'' have continuously exposed

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

nepotism Nepotism is an advantage, privilege, or position that is granted to relatives and friends in an occupation or field. These fields may include but are not limited to, business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, fitness, religion, an ...

, and incompetence in different local, provincial, and national governments. Cowasjee's last article for ''Dawn'' was published on 25 December 2011. '' Los Angeles Times'' described him thus: "His is a stubborn non-Muslim voice in this nation created as an Islamic homeland, refusing to be silenced. Attempts have been made. His life has been threatened so often the government has provided him with 24-hour protection.

Activities

Via the Cowasjee Foundation, Cowasjee was the financier of many scholarships for students wishing to pursue higher education. These included grants for both local and overseas education. They were termed "loans" and Cowasjee encouraged recipients to repay them so that others could benefit from the funds; however, he expected that the majority of the funds would not be repaid.

Death

Cowasjee died at the age of 86, on 24 November 2012. He was suffering from chest illness and remained in hospital for twelve days.

References

External links

Cowasjee's archives in Dawn Newspaper

Dawn coverage of his passing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowasjee, Ardeshir 1926 births Parsi writers Pakistani philanthropists Pakistani industrialists Pakistani male journalists Pakistani columnists Parsi people Pakistani Zoroastrians Pakistani socialites Dawn (newspaper) people B. V. S. Parsi High School alumni 2012 deaths Journalists from Karachi Businesspeople from Karachi Pakistani people of Gujarati descent 20th-century philanthropists