Suraiya Shahab (1945 – 13 September 2019) was a Pakistani newscaster, poet, and novelist. She worked as a news presenter at

Radio Pakistan Radio Pakistan serves as the national public broadcaster for radio in Pakistan. Although some local stations predate Radio Pakistan's founding, it is the oldest existing broadcasting network in Pakistan. The network was established on 14 August ...

Pakistan Television Pakistan Television Corporation ( ur, ; reporting name: PTV) is the Pakistani state-owned broadcaster. Pakistan entered the television broadcasting age in 1964, with a pilot television station established at Lahore. Background Historical co ...

BBC Urdu BBC Urdu ( ur, ) is the Urdu language station of the BBC World Service, accompanied by its website, which serves as a news portal and provides online access to radio broadcasts. The radio service is broadcast from Broadcasting House in London an ...

, and German radio

Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave" in English), abbreviated to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service con ...

from the 1960s to the 1990s.

Early life and education

Suraiya was born in 1945. She earned her Masters in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. Later, she was also pursuing a Ph.D. in political science but dropped out after being diagnosed with cancer.

Career

Suraiya began her broadcasting career in the 1960s by voicing in dramas at Radio Pakistan,

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

. Later, she was selected for a magazine program by Radio Iran Zahedan. The program became the reason for her success and fame. After spending over ten years in

Zahedan Zahedan ( Balochi and fa, , ' ) is a city and capital of Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. At the 2016 census, its population was 587,730. The city was the site of a deadly crackdown in October 2022, with dozens citizens killed by pro- ...

, she returned to Pakistan in 1973 and became associated with Pakistan Television and Radio Pakistan until she was selected for BBC Urdu Service in 1984. In the 1990s, she moved to Germany and worked for many years for the German national radio

. During her long stay in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, she authored 2 novels, a collection of fiction, and a collection of poetry.

Personal life

Suraiya first married her colleague ''Nazrul Isalm Afza'' while she was working for the radio in

, who was a Bengali artist. Later, they moved to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. Two of her three children were born in Iran. During the early 80s, her first husband passed away. Her second husband was from Germany. She had two sons and a daughter.

News presentations

Books

* "''Khud Se Aik Sawal''" — a collection of Urdu poems and

ghazals The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a p ...

* ''Safar Jari Hai'' (Urdu novel)

Philanthropy

From the platform of a welfare organization called "Youth League", Suraiya participated in several welfare works.

Death

Suraiya died on the morning of Friday, 13 September 2019, at the age of 75. She was suffering from Dementia due to a surgery of her brain. She was sick from 2002 until 2019 as her mental health was deteriorating badly. She passed away at her eldest son's place. She was buried in the local cemetery of

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shahab, Suraiya 1945 births 2019 deaths Pakistani women journalists Pakistani television newsreaders and news presenters Pakistani women radio presenters