Award-winning Pakistani cartoonist Shujaat Ali dies

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 7 October 2026 |  JP Staff Report

Shujaat Ali, an award-winning Pakistani caricaturist and political cartoonist, died of a heart attack on Oct 6 near his Bhara Kahu home on Islamabad's outskirts. He worked in newspapers, animated political cartoons, courtroom illustrations and aviation art.

Summary

ISLAMABAD — Award-winning Pakistani caricaturist and political cartoonist Shujaat Ali died after suffering a heart attack on Tuesday, October 6. He was getting out of his car near his home in Bhara Kahu, on the outskirts of Islamabad, when he was taken ill.

Ali built a distinguished career spanning newspaper cartooning, digital animation, courtroom illustration and aviation art. He worked with The News in Rawalpindi, Al Jazeera in Doha and the Pakistan Air Force, and was also associated with Pakistan Punch, a newspaper devoted to cartoons and satire.

A career across print and digital media

Ali began his professional newspaper career at The News in 1992, when he was 23, and quickly gained recognition for his editorial cartoons. His work combined political observation with a distinctive drawing style at a time when editorial cartooning remained an influential part of Pakistani newspaper commentary.

He received the All Pakistan Newspapers Society award for best political cartoonist in 1992, 1994, 1995 and 1996. His international recognition included cartooning awards in Tehran in 1993 and Tokyo in 1997, according to an Al Jazeera profile published in 2004.

Pioneering animated political cartoons

Ali joined Aljazeera.net in 2000 and spent about 16 years with the organization in Doha. His interactive and animated political cartoons extended his work beyond traditional newspaper pages and helped establish him as an early practitioner of digital political cartooning in the region.

Radio Pakistan introduced him in a February 2024 interview as Pakistan's first animated political cartoonist. His career reflected the changing form of editorial satire, from hand-drawn newspaper cartoons to animation and interactive work produced for online audiences.

Ali also developed a separate reputation as a courtroom and aviation artist. In a 2004 interview, he said the Supreme Court of Pakistan had recognized his courtroom reporting art in 1993-94. He was later recognized as an aviation artist and worked extensively on projects connected with the Pakistan Air Force.

One of his aviation paintings, commissioned to mark the golden jubilee of the PAF's No. 14 Squadron, was reproduced on a souvenir postage stamp commemorating 100 years of powered flight. The artwork depicted the PAF's transition from propeller-driven aircraft to the jet age.

Return to Pakistan

After returning to Pakistan, Ali joined JournalismPakistan.com as a contributing cartoonist in January 2017. His series, "LOL with Shujaat," focused on Pakistan's news media, including the excesses of television breaking-news coverage. He described freedom of expression and global peace as central concerns of his work.

Beyond producing cartoons, Ali worked to pass on his craft to younger artists. In February 2019, he conducted a two-week political-cartooning workshop at the National Art Gallery in Islamabad under the Pakistan National Council of the Arts. The program covered practical and theoretical techniques for students, media workers and aspiring cartoonists.

Ali was unmarried. His death ends a career that moved between journalism, political satire, animation, and aviation art while retaining the cartoonist's traditional role of examining public life through humor and visual criticism.

ATTRIBUTION: JournalismPakistan received the death details on October 7, 2026. Career information is based on JournalismPakistan's profile of January 8, 2017, and publicly available material from Al Jazeera, the Associated Press of Pakistan, and Radio Pakistan.

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