Begum Begum (also begüm, bagum, begom, begam, baigum or beygum) is a royal and aristocratic title from Central and South Asia. It is the feminine equivalent of the title ''baig'' or '' bey'', which in Turkic languages means "higher official". It us ...

Shafiq Zia (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Shafiq Jahan; 21 September 1931 – 5 January 1996) was a Pakistani

public figure A public figure is a person who has achieved notoriety, prominence or fame within a society, whether through achievement, luck, action, or in some cases through no purposeful action of their own, In the context of defamation actions (libel and s ...

who served as the

First Lady of Pakistan First ladies and gentlemen of Pakistan ( ur, ) is an unofficial title traditionally given, often interchangeably, to the wife or husband of the president and prime minister of Pakistan. The current First Ladies of Pakistan are Samina Alvi, wife ...

from 1977 until her husband's death in a plane crash on 17 August 1988.

Early life and family

Begum Zia was born in 1931 in

Kampala, Uganda Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

, to a family of Punjabi descent; she moved to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

after the

partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

, and married General

Zia-ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, ( Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial ...

on 10 August 1950 in Lahore. Shafiq was eight years younger than her husband, and was related to him on her maternal side. Her father, a medical doctor who lived and worked in Kampala, had taken leave at the time and was in Pakistan so that he could arrange the marriages of both his daughters. After the 1977 coup and her husband's assumption of the presidency in 1978, Zia became

first lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

. Over the next decade, she accompanied her husband on several overseas trips, including a

state visit A state visit is a formal visit by a head of state to a foreign country, at the invitation of the head of state of that foreign country, with the latter also acting as the official host for the duration of the state visit. Speaking for the host ...

to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1982.

As First Lady

Upon assuming the presidency in 1978, the Zia family continued residing at the Army House in

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...

, but hosted official functions and

state dinners A state banquet is an official banquet hosted by the head of state in his or her official residence for another head of state, or sometimes head of government, and other guests. Usually as part of a state visit or diplomatic conference, it is h ...

at the newly-completed Aiwan-i-Sadr. Begum Zia's work as

focused on domestic initiatives pertaining to the welfare of

disabled persons Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...

and the problems of drug addiction and abuse among young people. In 1981, the Zia government passed the Disabled Persons' (Employment and Rehabilitation) Ordinance, which created national and provincial councils to formulate policy for the employment and welfare of those with disabilities, established training centres, set employment quotas and called for the creation of a federal fund for the disbursement of stipends and scholarships for disabled persons. Begum and President Zia's own child, youngest daughter Zain, was born with speech and hearing disabilities. In 1985, Begum Zia represented Pakistan at Nancy Reagan's First Ladies Conference on Drug Abuse among seventeen other first ladies. Addressing the conference, she noted that the

government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provin ...

had established twenty-six centres for the rehabilitation of addicts. Begum Zia was invited to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

that same year, where, at a second meeting attended by the first ladies of thirty nations, she called for holding a conference in a developing country where drug use could be studied in the context of poverty. Upon returning to Pakistan, she enlisted the cooperation of

nongovernmental organizations A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

in tackling the domestic drug abuse problem, and inaugurated the 1986 national conference of NGOs on drug abuse prevention in

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 ...

. Begum Zia's work was featured in a

United States Information Agency The United States Information Agency (USIA), which operated from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to "public diplomacy". In 1999, prior to the reorganization of intelligence agencies by President George W. Bush, President Bill C ...

film, along with that of Marly Sarney of Brazil,

Queen Sirikit of Thailand Queen Sirikit ( th, สิริกิติ์; ; ); born ''Mom Rajawongse'' Sirikit Kitiyakara ( th, สิริกิติ์ กิติยากร; ; 12 August 1932) is the queen mother of Thailand. She was Queen of Thailand as the wif ...

Queen Noor of Jordan Noor Al-Hussein ( ar, نور الحسين; born Lisa Najeeb Halaby; August 23, 1951) is an American-born Jordanian philanthropist and activist who is the fourth wife and widow of King Hussein of Jordan. She was Queen of Jordan from their marriag ...

, and

Queen Silvia of Sweden Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mothe ...

. Begum Zia was present at the inaugural session of the first SAARC summit in

Dhaka, Bangladesh Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...

alongside the wives of other

SAARC The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of states in South Asia. Its member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, ...

heads of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 "he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and le ...

. In 1987, she accompanied President Zia to

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi Language, Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Rajasthan. , the city had a pop ...

for his famous

cricket diplomacy Cricket diplomacy consists of using the game of cricket as a political tool to enhance or worsen the diplomatic relations between two cricket playing nations. Cricket is the second-most widely played game in the world after football, and is thus ...

visit, where she met with

Gayatri Devi Gayatri Devi (born as Princess Gayatri Devi of Cooch Behar; 23 May 1919 − 29 July 2009) was the third Maharani consort of Jaipur from 1940 to 1949 through her marriage to Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II. Following her husband's signature for th ...

. Begum Zia's charitable and humanitarian work was recognised by

Aga Khan IV Shāh Karim al-Husayni (born 13 December 1936), known by the religious title Mawlānā Hazar Imam by his Ismaili followers and elsewhere as Aga Khan IV, is the 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailis, a denomination within Shia Islam. He ha ...

in 1985, who, at the inauguration of the Aga Khan University Hospital, endowed scholarships for medical students and funds to support health care for the poor at the hospital in Begum Zia's name. In 1987,

King Hussein of Jordan Hussein bin Talal ( ar, الحسين بن طلال, ''Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṭalāl''; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of ...

presented her with the

Supreme Order of the Renaissance The Supreme Order of the Renaissance (, "Medal of the Nahda") is the second knighthood order of the Kingdom of Jordan. History The order was instituted in 1917 by Emir Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca. According to correspondence between the ...

Later life and death

Following Zia-ul-Haq's death in 1988, Begum Zia founded the Zia-ul-Haq Foundation. In 1989, her pension and privileges as the wife of a former president were revoked by the

Benazir Bhutto government Benazir ( ur, بينظير) may refer to a first name for a girl. Notable people with the name include: * Benazir Bhutto (1953–2007), Pakistani politician * Benazir Charles (born 1992), Dutch model and beauty queen * Benazir Hussein (born 1972), ...

. She died on 5 January 1996 at the

Cromwell Hospital The Cromwell Hospital is a private sector hospital located in the South Kensington area of London. It is operated by international healthcare company Bupa. History The hospital, which was designed by Holder Mathias, was established by Bank of Cre ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and is survived by three daughters, Rubina, Quratulain, and Zain, and two sons, Ijaz and Anwar.

Foreign honours

* :

Eponyms

* Dendrobium orchid Shafiq Zia-ul-Haq, Singapore Botanical Gardens (1983) * Begum Shafiq Zia-ul-Haq Scholarship, Aga Khan University (1985)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zia, Shafiq 1931 births Ugandan people of Indian descent 1996 deaths People from Kampala Spouses of presidents of Pakistan Ugandan people of Pakistani descent Ugandan emigrants to Pakistan Ugandan people of Punjabi descent