Dr. Arfa Sayeda Zehra, a highly acclaimed educationist, human rights activist, and poet of Pakistan, died in Lahore on Monday aged 83. Her family reassured that she will be buried in her family grave yard in Cavalry Ground, Lahore.
Dr. Arfa Zehra was a very popular figure in the whole of Pakistan due to her lifetime service to education, Urdu language, and social consciousness. During her life of over five decades, she taught and mentored students and made a memorable contribution to the academic and cultural circle of Pakistan.
President Asif Ali Zardari was very saddened with her death as he referred to her death as an irreparable loss to the intellectual and literary circles in the country. In one of the statements posted on social media, he commended the lifelong devotion of Dr. Arfa to knowledge, research, and humanity. She was a bright role model to everyone. He said that her contribution towards the promotion of the Urdu language and literature will never be forgotten. The president also made emotional apologies to her family, students, and colleagues.
Dr. Arfa was born and brought up in Lahore and has attended Lahore College for Women University (LCWU) where she attained her BA (Honours). She attained her MA in Urdu later at Government College University, Lahore. She travelled to other countries in search of knowledge and attained another master degree in Asian Studies and PhD in History at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in the USA.
During her marvelous career, she was also a teacher and a principal in various reputable universities and colleges such as LCWU, National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and School of Public Policy. She is also a professor of history at Forman Christian College (FCCU) before she resigned last year because of health reasons.
Besides her scholarly effort, Dr. Arfa Zehra was a powerful activist of women rights and social justice. She belonged to the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) and she was also the chairperson of the same in 2006.
Her death is the end of an era in the educational and cultural world of Pakistan. Dr. Arfa Sayeda Zehra will always be remembered as a caring teacher, a strong champion of equality, and a life long spreader of Urdu and education in Pakistan.
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