| Mustafa Zaidi | |
| Pseudonym: | Tegh Allahbadi |
| Birth Name: | Syed Mustafa Hasnain Zaidi |
| Birth Date: | 1930 10, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Allahabad, United Provinces, British India |
| Death Place: | Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan |
| Occupation: | Poet |
| Nationality: | Pakistani |
| Genre: | Nazms and Ghazals |
| Spouse: | Vera Zaidi |
| Awards: | Tamgha-e-Quaid-e-Azam |
Mustafa Zaidi (born Syed Mustafa Hasnain Zaidi; 10 October 1930 – 12 October 1970) was a Pakistani Urdu poet and a civil servant.[1] [2]
In 1954, he passed the competitive examination and was sent to England for training before being given the posts of deputy commissioner and deputy secretary.[3]
He married Vera Zaidi, a German national, with whom he had a son and a daughter.[4]
In June 1970, he was dismissed from civil service along with 38 other Civil Service of Pakistan [CSP] officers by the dictatorial regime of General Yahya Khan. [5]
He died on 12 October 1970, two days after his 40th birthday, in Karachi under mysterious circumstances and was laid to rest at Wadi-e-Hussain cemetery Karachi. At the time of his death, Shehnaz Gul, a contractor's wife, was found beside him unconscious. Some believed that Zaidi was murdered while others thought he committed suicide.[6] [7]
In 2024, Saba Imtiaz and Tooba Masood-Khan wrote Society Girl, which explores Zaidi's mysterious death and her affair with Shahnaz Gul.[8] [9]
He also wrote under his pen-name Tegh Allahabadi. His initial poetry was romantic in nature. At the age of 17, he published his first collection of poetry Zangeerein (1949), followed by Roshni (1950), Shehr-e-Azar (City of Idol Worshippers; 1958), Mauj Meri Sadaf Sadaf (1960), Garebaan (1964), Qaba-e-Saaz (1967) and Koh-e-Nida (1971, published posthumously). His complete work was published as Kulliyaat-i-Mustafa Zaidi posthumously.