Page 23 - Pakistan Link - November 10, 2017

COMMENTARY NOVEMBER 10, 2017 – PAKISTAN LINK – P23

n By Zubeida Mustafa The Legendary Ahmad Ali Khan that was for the readers, never to be
Karachi, Pakistan used to promote his own personal/
family interest. Even in running the
he Dawn Karachi is 70 this paper Khan Sahib adopted a demo-
year. Over the decades, cratic and participatory style. On his
Tscores of people have joined own part he was self-effacing and
hands to help the paper sustain its never tried to steal the limelight. All
standing and standards. But there attention had to be focused on the
is one man whose contribution newspaper.
was singular. Without the direc- There was the occasion when
tion he provided, Dawn could not some hooligans from an ethnic po-
have risen to the heights to which litical party got provoked by an in-
it has, notwithstanding the numer- nocuous news item in the paper and
ous crises it has had to weather in came to his office to confront him.
its eventful life. The ugly verbal fracas that developed
That one man was Ahmad Ali edged very close to physical violence.
Khan, the longest serving profes- Yet the next day’s paper breathed not
sional editor of an English-language a word about it.
newspaper in Pakistan. Khan Sa- That was how he saw the divi-
hib, as he was respectfully called, sion between the personal and the
remained associated with the paper professional. Khan Sahib insisted
for 41 years; 28 of them as the edi- that as journalists we should have
tor. When he came to the helm in two compartments in our mind – one
May, 1973, the newspaper was go- for our own private opinions and be-
ing through a severe financial crisis. liefs on various issues, with another
To display its displeasure against the one reserved for Dawn’s official posi-
paper for its bold and independent tion on them. This held true chiefly
stance, the government had been for politics.
resorting to all kinds of measures Ahmad Ali Khan (extreme left) at a reception hosted by Mian Iftikharuddin, the publisher of Pakistan Times, Imroz and Lail- True to his Leftist leanings,
to twist its arms. With his ingenu- O-Nahar, in honor of the visiting Chinese political dignitary, Madame Soong Ching Lee (center), at his residence in Lahore in Khan Sahib showed unlimited con-
ity, Khan Sahib not only pulled the the early 1950s. Standing next to Mian Sahib (from left) are Hajra Masroor, Khan Sahib’s wife, Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi and cern for education of the masses,
paper out of troubled waters, but Hameed Akhtar. Faiz Ahmad Faiz and Mazhar Ali Khan are standing next to the Chinese guest of honor, while Zaheer Babar is healthcare for all, fairness and em-
his enduring presence also provided seen next to Khan Sahib. | Photo: Ahmad Ali Khan Family Archives ployment for labour, rights of the
Dawn the stability it needed to grow undertaking, if one remembers that What I found remarkable about misreporting was always followed child and empowerment of women.
and expand. This was done gracefully the press has never been free in Paki- Khan Sahib was his staunch sense of by a correction. A person who felt These issues had to be contained in
without a hint of surrender. stan. For the editor it has involved fair play which he did not allow to he had been wrongly accused of a one compartment that saw the world
Ahmad Ali Khan modestly de- the delicate act of testing waters and be swept aside by personal consid- wrongdoing was always given space through the prism of social justice.
scribed himself as a survivor, but doing tightrope walking in order to erations. He was quick to admit any to give his own version of the story. Under him, Dawn, whose forte had
he was more than that. A survivor come as close to first-rate journalism been political analysis, came to excel
thinks only of saving himself. Khan as possible. This was accomplished in its reporting and analysis of social
Sahib’s mission was to keep the pa- without letting the axe fall on the pa- issues as well.
per afloat, albeit without surren- per’s unwritten but strictly observed I could not really fathom his
dering the paper’s, his own and his code of ethics. Ahmad Ali Khan had relationship with technology. Once
colleagues’ dignity or soul, to use the integrity, selflessness and courage when I presented him with a tiny
his own words. For those of us who to do this and succeed. He often said,
worked with him, it was important “I am not here to have the paper shut
that we could all hold our heads high down, which is very easy for me to The longest serving
because we were made to feel a part do. The real challenge is to keep the professional editor of
of a big team working with a sense of paper going without compromising
purpose. its principles.” an English-language
The fact, however, remained And what were those principles
that, as the leader, Khan Sahib’s was AAK (as he signed his initials on the newspaper in
the brain that framed the purpose memos we used to receive) stood Pakistan left a long-
and set the tone. Under him, Dawn for? Of course, reporting the truth
had to be a newspaper that upheld and widening the horizons of free- lasting mark on Dawn
the highest principles of ethical jour- dom with responsibility were the top
nalism. It unswervingly stood for priorities as should be the aim of ev-
democracy, peace, tolerance, human ery media outlet. But in the process, pocket calculator, he was fascinated.
rights and social justice. And while it Dawn adopted its own characteris- For quite some time he sat explor-
adopted this stance, it was expected tic approach in the Walter Lipmann ing it with almost child-like curiosity
never to let go of truth at any cost. style which stood for fairness and and interest as I sat waiting to dis-
balance in reporting and restraint in cuss whatever I had gone to talk to
AT the launching ceremony of commenting. Woe betide him who him about. But the big computer that
Dawn’s Islamabad Edition in April resorted to lampooning, ranting or sat on the side table beside his desk
2001, Ahmad Ali Khan is seen shar- mudslinging and still somehow man- never interested him and he didn’t
ing a light moment with his long-time aging to get the piece printed in the bother to even touch it. Yet his most
colleagues Saleem Asmi (centre), paper. Dignity was the hallmark of At the launching ceremony of Dawn’s Islamabad Edition in April 2001, Ahmad Ali brilliant achievement can be said to
who was Dawn’s Editor at the time, the paper and every issue had to be Khan is seen sharing a light moment with his long-time colleagues Saleem Asmi be his success in navigating Dawn
and Muhammad Ziauddin (left), the argued out logically and elucidated (center), who was Dawn’s Editor at the time, and Muhammad Ziauddin (left), the through the shoals of technology
Resident Editor at Islamabad. | Pho- for the benefit of the reader and also Resident Editor at Islamabad. | Photo: Ahmad Ali Khan Family Archives when we entered the digital age and
to: Ahmad Ali Khan Family Archives the authorities. This gave the paper computerisation became indispen-
credibility that became the strength error of judgment if one had been Above all, for AAK the newspa- sible. (The writer is a former Dawn
This was by no means an easy of Dawn. committed and to even rectify it. A per constituted sacred ‘public space’ staffer)
Bin Laden Had No Help from State Elements in Pakistan: CIA Files

Academy Kakul in Abbottabad on militant support group which helps between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
ince the 2011 raid that took May 2, 2011. terrorists like Bin Laden to take shelter Al Qaeda has actively helped
out the al Qaeda head hon- The raid triggered intense specu- in the country. anti-state terrorist groups inside Paki-
Scho, there had been much lation that the world’s No 1 terrorist Despite speculations, there is lit- stan wage a war on its government and
speculation in the Western world on had the support of elements in the tle evidence to lend credence to claims citizens from across the border in Af-
whether Osama bin Laden had sup- Pakistani security establishment. that there were elements within the ghanistan.
port from within the Pakistani secu- The CIA released nearly 470,000 Pakistan security establishment who Although the members of US
rity establishment to hide at stone’s additional files recovered during the helped the al Qaeda chief reside in the Special Forces took everything they
throw from a top military academy. Abbottabad raid, revealing new infor- country. could from the compound, there was
America’s Central Intelligence mation about the terrorist group. However, a meticulous review of some intelligence left behind which
Agency, or CIA, rummaged through There is a lot of interest in wheth- the newly released documents might was scooped up by local law enforce-
a treasure trove of documents seized er these documents contain details shed some light on this matter in the ment officials and has not been made
from Bin Laden’s compound but about the people who were helping coming days. public.
couldn’t find anything that could sug- or supporting the ‘most wanted man According to The New York Whatever the verdict, the re-
gest the world’s most wanted terrorist in the world’ while he was living in Times, one of Bin Laden’s trusted as- leased documents do offer a unique
had any support from the establish- Pakistan. sociates, whose mobile phone was chance for journalists, experts, aca-
ment. Pakistan’s role in the war on ter- has swayed US administrations in the seized during the raid, apparently had demics and public intellectuals to
The al Qaeda chief was killed in a ror, and the help American forces have past. some contacts with the Harkatul Mu- garner a better understanding of the
secret raid by US special forces at his received in the capture of some senior But there have also been con- jahideen group, a banned militant out- inner workings of al Qaeda. – The Ex-
compound near the Pakistan Military al Qaeda operatives over the years, cerns that there is a state-sponsored fit which operates in the border region press Tribune
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