Shafiq Zia

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Begum Shafiq Zia (née Jahan; 21 September 1931 – 5 January 1996) was a Pakistani public figure, humanitarian and social worker who served as the First Lady of Pakistan from 1978 until her husband's death in a plane crash in 1988. As First Lady, her work highlighted the lives of disabled people and addressing drug addiction problems. Born as Shafiq Jahan into a family of Punjabi descent, in Uganda under colonial rule, her family moved to Pakistan after the Partition of British India. Three years later, Jahan married Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, who served in the British Indian Army during the second world war who had a successful career, assuming various roles within the army from the 1950s to the 1970s. In 1977, he overthrew the-then Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, in a coup nicknamed Operation Fairplay. He ruled Pakistan from the coup in 1977 until his death in 1988. Begum Zia was married for 38 years, and raised five children. Her eldest son Ijaz-ul-Haq became a politician in...

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