Shujaat Ali, Al Jazeera online cartooning pioneer, dies at 54

Shujaat Ali, a Pakistani cartoonist who helped establish Al Jazeera’s online services, has died at 54. His former employer credits him with creating the first animated caricatures online.

Al Jazeera said in its November 9 account that Ali suffered a heart attack as he returned home from work. He was buried in Qasimabad, Rawalpindi, where his parents are also buried.

From newspapers to animated cartoons

Ali began his newspaper career at The News in 1992, before joining Al Jazeera’s online service in 2000 and spending about 16 years with the organization in Doha, JournalismPakistan said. As part of the founding team of Al Jazeera Arabic’s online services, he developed cartoons for the digital platform.

Al Jazeera also described him as Pakistan’s first court artist. He made pencil sketches of judges and proceedings in prominent cases. The broadcaster said he received national and international awards for his cartooning, separately from its credit for his online work.

Ali later returned to Pakistan. He joined JournalismPakistan.com as a contributing cartoonist in January 2017, the outlet said. Waqar Saeed told Dawn that Ali was working for the Pakistan Air Force on contract at the time of his death. Dawn identified Saeed as Ali’s brother-in-law; Al Jazeera called him Ali’s son-in-law.

Conflicting accounts of the date

The accounts differ on when Ali died. Al Jazeera said he died “last week,” while JournalismPakistan’s 7 October report dated his death to 6 October 2026. Dawn had already published an account of his death on 8 October.

Saeed told Dawn that Ali collapsed after parking outside his home in Bahara Kahu and was taken to the Polyclinic, where he was pronounced dead. JournalismPakistan placed the incident near Ali’s home on the outskirts of Islamabad.