When I was young, I used to think that I would become a magician when I grew up. I had heard that magicians possess an amazing power with the help of which they can perform incredible feats.
Today, after so many years, when I look back, I realise that though my childhood wish was never fulfilled, I definitely got the golden opportunity to see the greatest magician in the world of journalism for a few years, which today feels like a dream.
This magician named Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman is remembered with respect even after so many years. I saw him for the first time 42 years ago, when I got associated with the Jang group. During those years, one of his words reached me through word of mouth, which I have not been able to forget till today. These were the days when Bhutto’s government had been overthrown and General Zia-ul-Haq had taken over and I was a student.
My friend narrated a story of Mir Saheb when he visited Karachi University for a program. According to my friend, the students asked Mir Saheb many questions. A tough question was repeatedly asked: why are new rulers given more coverage and opposition gets less coverage in Jang? Mir Saheb patiently replied that in countries like Pakistan, there is an immense pressure on newspapers from the government, cancellation of newspaper declaration, strict censorship, non-supply of newsprint; everything is under the control of the government. In such an environment, we think it is better to convey the news to the people with such prudence that on one hand, we do not accept the government’s demand to completely disappear the news of the opposition, and on the other hand, we print this news in small sections so that the news reaches people in one way or the other.
Apparently, this was a simple answer. But with this answer, the entire history of journalism in Pakistan can be understood very easily.
Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman is remembered for the unprecedented success of his newspapers and journals. But those who have seen him, know very well that he was much more than a newspaper owner.
This was in September or October of 1977. It was the time of the martial law of General Zia-ul-Haq. I was a journalism student at Karachi University. During those days, I came to know about two temporary vacancies on the night desk in Daily Jang. From the journalism department of the university, my classmate, Abdul Salam Salami and I were sent to work on these temporary positions. Honestly, though I was happy to be selected for this job, from inside I was also scared. Working at the main night desk of Pakistan’s largest newspaper, where experienced journalists edited the first and last pages of the newspaper, could have been a tough test for an inexperienced student.
In the Jang newsroom, this fear was over within two days. There was a strange informal atmosphere prevailed in the newsroom. Zafar Rizvi Saheb was the news editor. Amidst the peculiar noise of teleprinters, the serious environment of the newsroom would become light with laughter on the occasional phrases and comments passed by the people on the desk. With their heads down, people would remain busy translating the news received from the teleprinters but at the same time would also participate in the conversation and would pass interesting remarks and comments.
Seeing this environment, I was definitely satisfied because in such an environment there was an opportunity for novices like me to work freely and without fear. The guidance was readily available from journalists like Humayun Aziz, Naseer Hashmi, and others sitting right and left. But there was also a little disappointment. I wondered how in this environment, the norms of responsible journalism, protection of freedom of expression and democratic values that are enshrined in textbooks and taught to students around the world, and which we had dreamt of, would have been fulfilled.
At a corner of this news desk, right in front of the corridor, a silent elderly journalist was seen engrossed in his work with his head down. Everyone used to address him as Zubairi Saheb.
After a few days, we noticed that Zubairi Saheb used to start work a little late. The news for translation was given to all of us intermittently, but much lengthy news items received in English from the news service were given to Zubairi Saheb all at once. Then he would start working with his head bowed and would remain busy for a good two and a half hours.
When I asked a senior colleague, he informed me that Zubairi Saheb is an expert in translating news based on court proceedings, and those days, he was daily translating the entire proceedings of a case in the Supreme Court into Urdu. His news appeared on the front page only with a two-column headline, but the rest of it was published on the remaining page from top to bottom, sometimes in one and a half columns, sometimes in two full columns. No news as long as this news story was in the whole paper.
Which case was it? This was the case of Begum Nusrat Bhutto. Begum Nusrat Bhutto had filed a constitutional petition in the Supreme Court under Article 184(3) of the Constitution against the imposition of martial law by the Chief of Army Staff, the detention of Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and ten other party leaders under Martial Law Regulation (12). The petition was being heard by a nine-member bench of the Supreme Court. It was stated in the petition that the Chief of Army Staff had no authority under the country’s constitution to overthrow an elected government, the whole process is illegal and falls under the category of treason under Article 6 of the constitution.
I remained surprised for years on this. Jang was never considered an anti-establishment newspaper in those days. Jang’s strength was its news, its nationwide news network, its columns, and as a result of these features, its unprecedented circulation. Even a common person let alone the students of Journalism like me, had full idea that no doubt Jang provides information to the public, but it avoids going down the road where there is a risk of government censure.
After watching this extensive coverage of the Nusrat Bhutto case, I realised how a newspaper can quietly perform its duty even in the toughest martial law era and how the laughing newsroom can accurately report and remember the duty of recording the history even amidst its laughter and light environment.
So it came on record that the day Begum Nusrat Bhutto filed this petition in the Supreme Court, on the same day Justice Yaqub Ali Khan was removed and Justice Anwarul Haq was made the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. It was also reported that Sharifuddin Pirzada in his arguments said that the step taken by General Zia-ul-Haq cannot be called a coup d’etat. This step is in accordance with the principle of necessity of the state, originating in ancient Rome. Furthermore, it was relayed out in the open that AK Brohi, representing the Federation, in his arguments, had promised to avoid the danger of civil war in the country by the implementation of martial law on July 5, 1977.
The Nusrat Bhutto case was probably over in fifty days. The court while accepting the principle of necessity of State declared martial law as a legitimate action and dismissed Begum Nusrat Bhutto’s constitutional petition. But the institution of Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman taught me, an ordinary student of journalism, how newspapers and journalists should remember their responsibility and play their best role even in times of dictatorship and censorship.
At that time I did not know that the nature would make me permanently associated with the Jang Group and that I would be able to watch the relationship between journalism and those in power gradually deteriorate after a few decades and try to learn from the conscientious team of Mir Khalilur Rahman., that in a country like Pakistan, how we have to devise a new strategy to speak our mind before the higher echelons of power, to convey the message to the people and to fulfil the duty of our conscience honestly.
When I look back on so many years of Jang, I remember an old verse “jin k rutbay hain siwa, unki siwa mushkil hai (those who enjoy high ranks, face more difficulties). When Jang completed fifty years of its publication, a storm of intolerance unleashed in society. Ethnic killings, riots in the name of religion and sects, mysterious actions of secret agencies, suicide bombings, and intrigues of external forces started. Media is said to be an opinion maker, but at that time, it was getting more and more difficult for the media to make people aware and understand the truth.
That was the time when we saw that Jang was in more trouble than other newspapers. Reason? Jang was the most widely distributed publication. The news or opinion printed in it reached the largest audience. Not once, hundreds of times had it happened that a news, or an editorial, or a column published in Jang created an uproar. And if the same thing was printed in any other newspaper, there was no reaction.
It is a bit strange, but it is true that Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman’s newspapers touch the hearts of the people, which the bastions of political power are unable to digest. Apparently, they talk about freedom of expression and a free press, but in their hearts, they harbour this desire that somehow the power of these newspapers should end. We have seen its practical demonstrations time and again. When the opposition parties win the election and assume power, their views change. Take the example of any party, as soon as they come to power, their first attempt is to control Mir Saheb’s newspapers and to force them to follow their lines. I am the eye witness to many incidents when angry mobs of political parties entered the offices of the institution, vandalising them and assaulting the common workers.
They forced the newspaper to publish political news prominently on the front page and gave threats for not publishing it. I saw many parties issuing decrees and instigating mobs of hundreds of workers against Jang. One Sunday, thousands of printed copies of the newspaper were snatched and burnt. All this happened not with other newspapers, but only with Jang Group.
If a stranger, unfamiliar with Pakistani journalism, is told all these stories, he might think that the problem will be in the Jang group; otherwise, all the media would be subjected to the same regressive treatment.
From one point of view, the problem is really in the Jang group. On the one hand, the circulation of this group has been more than the rest of the newspapers, therefore, its influence is widespread. The second problem is that, as per the instructions of Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman, this group has adopted the policy of compromising to only a certain extent and then standing firm with the truth. The third problem is that this group is not ready to be the mouthpiece of the sitting government and does not refrain from reporting the news of the opposition and the performance of the government.
The matter is not old, everyone remembers how an unannounced ban was imposed on the distribution of Jang newspaper in some areas. Why Jang was declared an agent of India? How the broadcast of Geo News was stopped, with the help of cable operators, this channel was repeatedly thrown to the last numbers all over Pakistan, some programs were stopped. How NAB filed a false case against its editor-in-chief and kept him in prison for eight months, after which the court finally acquitted him.
In the past years, despite numerous such incidents, the Jang group has continued its journey on the path it had chosen for itself long ago. It has adopted the policy of keeping reconciliation to a certain extent and standing its ground after this limit, which was formulated by Mir Khalil-ur-Rehman, the founder of the Jang. Jang never adopted traditional tabloid-type journalism; it considered news to be its real strength and observed journalistic integrity as a fundamental guiding principle.
It can be said unambiguously that the efforts made by Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman’s Jang group to uphold journalistic norms and fulfil its responsibility even in the most difficult situation, have been very successful. But obviously, it is not a complete success. Complete success may be nothing but a vision, a concept or a dream.
Many years ago, today was the day when it was reported that the founder of Jang Group, Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman, had passed away. It felt like time had stopped and a stark silence spread everywhere. At that time, it was impossible to even imagine that without Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman, hundreds of workers of Jang Group would be able to continue their journalistic journey.
That unlucky day, all those overwhelming scenes, later the gathering of thousands of people at the Tariq Road graveyard and that unique person who performed incredible feats in Pakistani journalism with his magic, are all still vivid in memories.
-The writer is a senior journalist, fiction writer, ex-Editor Akhbar-e-Jehan