An obituary essay: Pioneer of economic journalism in Pakistan M A Zuberi dies

The Editor-in-Chief of Business Recorder and former senior assistant editor of Dawn, M.A. Zuberi, who turned 90 in July this year, died at 6pm on Sunday at his Old Clifton residence in Karachi, one month after the death of his 83-year-old wife, Sultana Zuberi. M.A. Zuberi had been suffering from health problems normally associated with old age for quite some time.
He leaves behind three sons-Wamiq, Arshad and Asif-two daughters-Afshan and Dr Darakhshan-many grand- and great-grandchildren and a large number of admirers to mourn his death.
A journalist and editor of outstanding repute in the realms of economics and finance, Zuberi's career spanned nearly seven decades. A former president and one of the founding members of Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), he never liked himself to be introduced as a newspaper proprietor, although he was responsible for laying the foundation of and nurturing one of the leading media houses in the country-Business Recorder newspaper and Recorder Television Network (Aaj News and Play TV).
A widely travelled person, Zuberi represented Pakistan in various international forums, including the Commonwealth Press Union, United Nations, World Bank/IMF Annual meetings. A recipient of Sitara-e-Imtiaz and many other awards, Zuberi introduced the first daily on economics and finance of the Muslim world, Business Recorder, in the mid 1960s, the decade which, according to former State Bank of Pakistan governor Dr Ishrat Husain and many other economists, witnessed the emergence of Human Capital as a key variable along with Physical Capital and when the GDP growth rate averaged 6.8 percent annually with investment rate touching a peak of 23 percent in 1964-65. Zuberi decided to launch Business Recorder after he took retirement from Dawn where he had already completed nearly 20 years. Miffed by Dawn's policy, Field Marshal Ayub Khan was said to have successfully persuaded the newspaper's management to ensure that senior assistant editor M.A. Zuberi, who enjoyed the power of hiring and firing, and six months later, Editor Altaf Husain, should no longer be in Dawn.
On the first anniversary of publication of Business Recorder in 1966, Zuberi proudly told its readers that during those twelve months the newspaper had stood by its policy of encouraging the development of free private enterprise, and at the same time boldly and fearlessly highlighted the shortcomings or misdemeanour of the unscrupulous in country's economic community.
Widely known as a patriot to the core, his inspiration perhaps sprang from glorious days of the Pakistan Movement. He had been an ardent champion of private enterprise, democratic system of government with maximum provincial autonomy, agrarian reforms, and a progressive, rational approach to the interpretation of Islamic economic principles. From these beliefs he never deviated in commenting on national issues at different times, be it pseudo socialist regime of ZA Bhutto, the abominable Martial Law of Ziaul Haq or the 'Enlightened Moderation' of Pervez Musharraf. Never did he mince words in analysing policies and situations dispassionately and objectively, at times even ruthlessly.
Zuberi would often put under spotlight the fact that there is no consensus in the country on how to reduce or eliminate the budget deficit and find money for economic development that we so badly need. He would bemoan the fact that the connection between our revenue deficit and external trade deficit, is profoundly clear.
We spend more than what we are collecting in taxes. We invest more than what we save and consume more that what we produce. As the budgetary deficit increases and the saving ratios go down and dependence on foreign loans mounts. According to him, political sovereignty does not exist without economic sovereignty because politics and economics are inextricably intertwined.
He was a strong advocate of ability-to-pay principle, which was extended by Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, French political economist Jean-Baptiste Say and English economist John Stuart Mill. Individuals with higher incomes are charged more taxes not because they use more government goods and services but because they have the ability to pay more would be his editorial line that he would articulate for his team dealing with matters relating to taxation. He would, however, hardly accept criticism on this principle that the main downside of the ability-to-pay principle is that it diminishes the incentive to work, since a higher portion of the generated income will be collected by the government as taxes.
Born into a highly educated family in Marehra, UP, India, on July 2 1920, he matured when the World War I was not a distant memory. By the time he graduated from Meerut College, the World War II was on. His father, Aziz Ahmed Zuberi, was a lawyer of repute. He died when Zuberi was only 12 years old.
Entering profession
After a very brief but highly significant stint in army, he entered the field of journalism under the Quaid's command by joining Dawn, which was then being edited by the illustrious journalist of the sub-continent, Altaf Husain. He came to Karachi around the 9th of August, five days before independence, carrying personally aboard a plane Dawn's Independence Day supplement printed in Delhi since Delhi staff had no idea of the printing facilities available in Karachi.
In those early years of Karachi Dawn, he was the paper's specialist writer on economic and financial subjects. He was famous for his facility as an economic analyst and commentator. He would often explain to policymakers the key ingredients of financial stability, which according to him, is defined as a situation in which the function of financial intermediation continues without disruptions despite exertion of internal and external shocks, and financial risks are monitored and managed well so that the possibility of systemic crises is minimised.
He would often emphasise the point that the objectives of monetary and financial stability should complement each other given that the financial sector is an important component of the transmission mechanism and implementation of monetary policy framework in the country. He would make it clear to the authorities that country's central bank-State Bank of Pakistan-should have the pulse of the economy and must be given the freedom to strictly pursue monetary policy objectives enunciated by the SBP Act. He would often remind the fiscal and monetary authorities that the threat of renewed macroeconomic complications would be further heightened if prompt actions are not taken to correct the existing deterioration in fiscal indicators.
It was on March 26, 1983 that the then finance minister who later became President of the country, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, publicly praised Zuberi for his services in the economic sphere and more particularly in projecting the interest of the private sector. "Business Recorder and more particularly its Chief Editor M A Zuberi who, although is not a chip of the same block, has done more for the private sector than what the private sector has done for itself," Ghulam Ishaq Khan stated at a Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry function.
ZA Bhutto
A great supporter of free but efficiently regulated market, Zuberi was a staunch opponent of Marxism or radical socialism. With much of his career actively focussed on the Cold War, he would often tell his colleagues that "antiquated" socialism has its greater appeal to the mediocre as it is incapable of creating or preserving prosperity which would be so plentiful as to be shared by all. In one of his editorials "Socialism and private enterprise" carried by Business Recorder on July 21 1972, he wrote:
"President Bhutto has declared himself for a mixed economy with proper place for private enterprise. But there are deleterious forces at work. Enormous harm is being done to the economy and, instead of progress, chaos is created and kept alive. Labour has been misguided and defiance and violence have been sedulously cultivated....Without the performance which only the private sector is capable of, and it has not been given the opportunity or the encouragement which could be of all round benefit, there is little hope of a real improvement in the people's standard of life, approaching anything like what the far-seeing other countries have attained. Without a strong and dynamic private sector, the living standards must remain low and human freedoms suffer. Unless we act to the model of new Socialism, we would stray."
General Ziaul Haq
Similarly, when General Ziaul Haq came with his concept of Islamic banking he used to differ with him, in that he said that Islamic Banking was just changing the nomenclature from interest to profit and both are the same thing. In an editorial, he suggested to General Zia's government that since there is considerable difference of opinion and respected religious authorities are quoted for and against the view that banking interest is not Riba in the Islamic sense, "we believe it will be advisable to give the people a choice to bank in accordance with their lights or belief....We on our part would recommend to the government to institute a dual system of banking in the nationalised banks only in the first instance. Let those who want to deposit money under the present system continue to do so, while those who prefer the interest-free system may bank under the new scheme. The advantage of this will be that the people would be able to gauge the benefits of both systems, and if the return under the new system is greater, people would definitely switch over to it..."
It was during General Zia's rule that he raised so many questions in the best interest of the so-called efforts that were being made for the "Islamization" of the Pakistani society. "Islam is not confined to the imposition of Hudood (punitive injunctions)," he wrote in his editorial titled "Rajm: Is there a Quranic Injunction?" He argued that Islam is whole code of life wherein principles of morality have been laid down for every sphere of human behaviour.
Following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, he told Zia to hold the Afghan refugees and keep them near the border. This policy of allowing them to run transport from Karachi to Peshawar would end up with drugs and arms from Peshawar to Karachi.
It was also during Zia's rule that he raised some other fundamental questions in his editorials: Did the Quaid not say that Pakistan shall not be a theocracy? Are we not trying to convert this country into theocracy by law and Constitution? Did not the Quaid say that Pakistan shall be a democracy which shall be ruled and governed by a democratically elected government on the basis of adult franchise and that "the army shall be governed, instructed and directed by that elected civilian authority? How have we observed this precept? For how many years have we had an elected government and for how many years a military rule under the garb of martial law?"
Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif
When the elections took place in 1988, he asked Benazir Bhutto to form a national government with Nawaz Sharif. According to him, this will be the only way to keep the army in the barracks. "We take the liberty to suggest that the PPP as a majority party should think in terms of forming a government of national unity. This is what the country needs today. PPP must talk to the Pakistan Muslim League whose president is Mohammad Khan Junejo.... Thus the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League, and if possible the MQM, can coalesce to form a government of national unity; such a government will be able to take the country out of its present economic difficulties and political malady. It will be a stable government if the distribution of portfolios is made keeping in view the principles of good administration and durable co-operation and its members do not tailor democratic principles to suit their ambitions. PML, if it really believes in democracy, should have no hesitation in accepting Benazir Bhutto as the prime minister and the leader of the Government..."
Zuberi had been a strong supporter of greater autonomy for provinces, believing firmly that a majority of the problems confronting the country are a product of the over-centralised manner in which the affairs of the state are conducted in spite of the fact that we have a federal structure. According to him, the idea of good governance also lays stress on decentralisation. While the structure is federal, the bureaucracy is still pervasively central, in which the local governments have never been allowed. Zuberi would often argue that there is need and room for giving more autonomy to provincial governments within the provisions of the 1973 Constitution.
Zuberi had never been averse to taking risks. He was 80 when he decided to go electronic. So very early on, the Zuberis went on the Internet (www. brecorder.com will get a new look soon). This happened under the able supervision of the project of BR assistant editor the late A R Khaliq. The attack on Business Recorder in 2000, which turned the entire newspaper building into ruins, was one of the saddest moments in his life. He did not come to the office at night. But very next morning after assessing the damage - had asked the staff that the "show must go on." And, the newspaper must be published no matter what the odds were. May 12, 2007 was another such day for him when gunmen stalking Karachi's streets attacked the media house for its TV channel's live broadcast of their unlawful activities.
Team members
Zuberi was deeply saddened by the death of a number of colleagues over the past many years. They included Qazi Abrar Siddiqui, Zamiruddin Ahmed, Ghulam Ahmed, Z.S. Daver, Zamir Niazi and Abdul Hamid Zubairi. It was in September 2010 that one of his most trust-worthy colleagues, M Abul Akhyar, who retired from Business Recorder in 2009, died. He owed a lot to them. They had helped him initiate a bold venture, an English daily devoted almost exclusively to economic and financial matters. It was not Business Recorder that he founded but he indeed pioneered economic journalism in Pakistan. A large number of periodicals focussing on various sectors of economics and finance have been brought out in the wake of Business Recorder, and the leading dailies now have separate sections to cover economic and financial news and views.
Those working at Business Recorder had seen his gradual withdrawal from a lot of chores that he used to undertake because of failing health. It was perhaps because of this reason that he formally handed over editorship to the then op-ed page editor of the newspaper, Wamiq A Zuberi, a few years ago. Except for his office where he would be spending at least a couple of hours on a daily basis on his own volition, he would hardly go out to meet people. Interestingly though, he was seen about two years ago, at a gathering despite ill health. That occasion was the funeral ceremony of his life-time friend Mahmoud A Haroon and Zuberi had gone there to meet the Haroons to condole his death. Crying on his shoulder at Mahmoud's residence was Yusuf Haroon, another key witness of political events of pre - and post-partition sub-continent.
This writer has had the opportunity to attend newspaper editors' meetings with heads of state and government during his immediate past association with another newspaper as its Karachi Resident Editor. There were always two editors---Ahmad Ali Khan, who had rejoined Dawn as newspaper's Editor-in-Chief, and MA Zuberi --- who would stand out in such gatherings with their astute handling of variety of issues, in-depth analyses of situations and their highly impressive and responsible conduct guided by a deep sense of ethics.
Showing always a greater sense of history, they were never less than persuasive. These two gentlemen were meticulous with facts, fastidious with judgements and generous to the opposing argument. Unfortunately, however, both are no longer in this world. Ahmad Ali Khan passed away in March 2007. -The writer is the newspaper's News Editor. He previously worked for several publications, including Daily Times, Dawn and Khaleej Times, in various capacities.