In the chequered history of the growth of Journalism in Pakistan the figure of Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman stands out tall in its own right and is amply supported by his success in the field of journalism in the sub-continent. This was because Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman, through the sheer dint of his hard labour and persistence achieved success where others failed. Not only that, he also set an example for others to follow with respect to adhering to a goal single-mindedly and working towards its achievement with undivided attention and devotion.
 It was in the early ‘40s that Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman began his arduous journey in the field of journalism from New Delhi, the capital of British India before partition. He began publishing the Jang from New Delhi in 1942. Jang was a newspaper that was devoted to the cause of the Muslims freedom struggle, because Mir saheb himself had complete faith in the leadership of the Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Once Pakistan was a reality on the world map, he migrated here, like many other Muslims in New Delhi, and took up residence in Karachi, the then federal capital of Pakistan. At approximately that same time, I began my journey in practical journalism in 1949 along with my brother Qutubuddin Aziz, United Press of Pakistan Ltd, an independent private sector news agency established by our late father, Syed Abdul Hafiz, one of the pioneers of Muslim journalism in the sub-continent.
I had a great friend in Khan Bahadur H M Habibullah, a coal-mining tycoon from Campbellpur who built his fortunes while mining coal in Balochistan. K B H M Habibullah was a close friend of Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman’s too, and I often met Mir saheb at Habibullah’s lunch-table. Our meetings during those early days after the establishment of Pakistan were to lead to a firm friendship and understanding between Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman and myself in later years.
Since Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman, even though he owned the daily Jang, remained active in the reporting field too, we often met at press conferences, or lunch or dinner given by well known personalities for pressmen. It was a time when the dedication to the Pakistan ideology was a prominent feature among newspaper editors and their main effort was to make a success of Pakistan so that the predictions of the Hindu Mahasabha leadership that Pakistan would not last for even a year could be proved wrong.
The success of Pakistan in its early years, its emergence as a Muslim power in the world and its advocacy of Islamic solidarity were goals that found ready support amongst the editors of Pakistan’s newspaper-community. Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman, true to the ideology of Pakistan, always spoke out and wrote strongly to defend the country’s ideological basis and its destiny as a Muslim nation. It was his faith in Pakistan that in a way inspired me too, and I sought out to establish the closest ties with the Saudi Arabian diplomat in Pakistan and through them with the Saudi Arabian leadership. I was soon organising supplement in Pakistani newspapers on Saudi Arabia and Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman gave me his full support in my efforts for which I shall forever remain grateful to him.
When he introduced colour printing in newspapers in Pakistan in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, many amongst the press society thought it was too early to introduce colour printing in newspapers. Within a year however, they were all following Jang’s example, in fact, the Pakistani press led the rest of the Muslim world in being the first to introduce colour printing in their newspapers.
Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman was also blessed with human qualities that endeared him to his friends. I worked with him in the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) for a very long time and realised that whenever there was a crisis, he went along with the policies of the CPNE and supported press freedom and rejected any action that the government might have taken against newspapers which had exercised their right of editorial freedom.
In all government-press relations Mir saheb always advised a course of action that would maintain the objectives of the Editors community without rousing agitation and harming the relations between the government and the press.
I can still remember my meeting with him in the hospital room during his last illness in 1991 when he told me, before his wife and his son Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, that he always wanted the goodwill of all his colleagues in the field of journalism and wished them well. He had nothing but encouragement for fellow-journalists and once persuaded a fellow journalist, Umar Farooqui to start his own evening daily, ‘Aghaz, after the latter had been oustedfrom the Daily Anjam.
Mir saheb didn’t just support individual journalists, but fought for the rights of rival newspaper organisations too. During the early days, Karachi had had two rival papers, the Roznama Jang and Anjam, as the leading papers of the city. Later the Nawa-i-Waqt from Lahore began publishing from Karachi also and established a place for itself.
It did not receive many government grants however, and whenever we lambasted the federal and provincial governments for pressurising Nawa-i-Waqt, in the CPNE, Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman and the Jang Group always supported the CPNE’s stance, and demanded the removal of all restrictions on newspapers and release of advertisements to the newspapers by government organisations without discrimination. Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman often represented Pakistan at many international meetings of newspaper editors at which he would always speak out about the problems being faced by his country and demand for their earliest resolution.
MKR: A sincere friend of his colleagues
At a personal level, Mir saheb was a sincere friend who was always willing to reach out and stand by me whenever I suffered undue government pressure for having rejected some of their demands.
Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman was a very kind-hearted and generous person who always engaged in welfare projects that aimed at providing succour to the suffering humanity. Almost all my friends in the socialwelfare field acknowledged Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman’s readiness to convey through the news columns of his various publications, the good work of these humanitarian organisations.
As I look back at the sixty odd years that I have spent as a part of the journalistic society of Pakistan, I recall with great cherish the words of encouragement and friendly advice that Mir sahib always gave me, willingly and sincerely, for my own good. He always prayed that his sons be able to carry on the publications that he had launched.
Now the Jang group has branched out into the audio-visual media also, earning plaudits for all that they have achieved, and in the achievement made Mir sahib a legend in the field of journalism in Pakistan. The best tribute to the enterprise and success of late Mir Khalilur Rahman are the publications and TV channels that are now run by his progeny in Pakistan and abroad.
Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman was a devout Muslim who had always had a great yearning to perform ‘Umrah’ in Makkah Al-Mukarrammah and visit the Holy City of Madinah Munawwarah to pray at the mosque of the Holy Prophet of Islam (Peace be upon him). This was one yearning that I always shared with him, and on several occasions we both stood together in the long prayer lines at the Haram in Makkah and prayed together. He always prayed with devotion and eyes that were wet with tears thanking Allah for the bounties bestowed on him, his family members and friends. I had occasion to discover and witness his humane self during the numerous prayers together in the Harams in Saudi Arabia.
Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman has indeed carved a niche for himself in the long and arduous history of the struggle for press freedom in Pakistan. There are many in Pakistan today who owe their career and progress in journalism to Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman’s patronage and support, and who will always remain grateful to him for what they have achieved for themselves and their families in Pakistan.
This in fact is a Sadaqa-i-Jariah and the benefits of this sadaqah are fully illustrated in the holy book ‘Quran’ which shall always guide us Muslims in their life both in this world and in the hereafter.
Let us pray on this occasion that May Allay bless the soul of late Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman —Ameen |
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