I would not like to go into the details of my pre-journalistic career. I will just tell you how I came into contact with Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. I started my career after training in the Indian Military Academy in the city of Dehradoon. Later on, I was posted in intelligence censor unit in New Delhi, where all letters, etc., addressed to senior civil officers of the Government of India as well as Indian Members of the Viceroy's Executive Council were checked before delivery. There I came across a letter addressed to a Hindu officer of the Home Department of Government of India marked 'personal and confidential'. That letter contained details of an R.S.S. Plan to reduce the Muslim majority in Bengal. As a Muslim I suffered a shock and I lost my cool for a while. It was 9.00 PM and I was alone in my room, I made a copy of the letter. I would not like to go into the details, I managed to get it delivered to Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. This was about mid-1944. Soon after I sought release from my service, opting to forego my severance benefits. I was released in November 1945. At the end of the month I had an opportunity to meet Mr. Khursheed, Private Secretary of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. I mentioned to him my desire to meet the Quaid-e-Azam. He arranged an interview for me and I met our great leader in the first week of December 1945. I asked him if he had received the RSS Plan delivered to him. He was surprised and asked what I knew about it and why I had asked about its delivery. Then I explained to him everything, thinking that he would greatly appreciate it. But to my surprise, he said: "You violated your oath of secrecy while in government service. I said, "sir, I took the oath of secrecy to a foreign government and I was concerned about the security of Muslim community in Bengal. I have already acquired release from the service to seek some other job". "What job are you looking for? You go and join Dawn," he almost commanded me. Somewhat baffled, I said "Sir, I am not a journalist." He cut me short, "we are training journalists. You go and see Mahmood Hasan, General Manager of Dawn, day after tomorrow," adding after a brief pause, "now that you will be a journalist apply your mind to the subject before you, honestly and objectively; do not grudge credit where it is due and do not hesitate to criticize even if it is Mohammad Ali Jinnah. If you make a mistake it should be an honest mistake you should own it up immediately."
Then he left the room and I came out quite nervous. Khursheed asked me what had happened. I did not tell him the whole thing but only that the Quaid had asked me to go and get training as a journalist in Dawn. He said, it was very good and he rang up Mr. Mahmud Hasan and informed him about me. I went to see him the next day and he appointed me Apprentice Sub-Editor in December 1945. I was taken to the newsroom and introduced to the Editor of Dawn, Mr. Altaf Hussain, who had become the Editor of Dawn in October 1945, replacing Pothen Joseph.
Here I may mention that Mr. Altaf Hussain was previously Director of Information in the Government of Bengal and used to write a column in a newspaper, The Statesman, under the title "Darul Salam", with pen name 'Shahid'. The writer's identity was highly secret. The whole column used to discuss the problems faced by the Muslim community and the Muslim League efforts to rescue them from their plight. It is a long story how the Quaid established the identity of the writer and got him released through Bengal Chief Minister Mr. Suharawardy, to appoint him as Editor of Dawn.
Now reverting to my introduction, after meeting the Editor I was introduced to Mr. Hussain the News Editor of Dawn. He was brought to Dawn from the daily Pioneer published from Lucknow. At that time there were five people in the newsroom: one Muslim, two Christians and two Hindus. I sat down and one of them used to guide me how to edit news reports. Till the end of February I worked during the day. Hussain Sahib used to come at 9.00 AM and would be there till 9.00 - 10.00 or even 11.00 PM. He did not allow me to maintain any duty hours. I was supposed to come at 9.00 AM and some time sit there till around 9.00 PM, sometimes he did let me go at 5.00 or 6.00 PM. Early in March I was shifted to night duty and I was going to the office at 9.00 PM and worked upto 3.30 or 4.00 AM. In the meantime, some more apprentices came, they were being trained and gradually the Hindu and Christians staff started quitting. Mr. Hamid Zuberi, who was also brought in from The Pioneer was a Sub-Editor, the senior most amongst us, and his job was to train apprentices as Sub-Editors.
I was rotated between various assignments on the desk and reporting. The News Editor, Hussain Sahib, would go through the entire dak edition and city edition, mark out mistakes, pointing out what could be better headlines, what stories should have been better displayed and what items deserved front page or back page or an inside page. There was not a day the edition incharge was not rebuked for not correcting the mistakes of Sub-Editors in his shift.
It was the month of September or October, while I was incharge of city edition it so happened that the Unionist Provincial Government banned the sale and distribution of Dawn in the Punjab.
Here comes my extra-journalistic assignment. The Punjab Muslim League leaders sent a request to Mr. Altaf Hussain that Dawn should be brought to Lahore somehow. I was assigned to go and meet Mr. Mumtaz Daultana in Lahore. I put in about 10 or 20 copies of Dawn in my suitcase and covered them with my clothes and embarked on my first visit to Lahore as a smuggler. There I met Mr. and Begum Daultana at their house. I was also introduced to some other Muslim League leaders and their wives. Two hours before I caught the train back to Delhi, Begum Daultana introduced me to two other ladies; unfortunately I don't remember their names, but they were prominent Muslim League leaders. It was decided that Begum Daultana herself or one of these ladies would be seen standing about a mile or two miles away, from Lahore Railway Station. I should throw out at least 30 to 50 copies of Dawn in bundles from the running train for them to pick up. Those Dawn copies, I was later told, were sold in Lahore at a price of Rs 10, 20 or even 30 each and all that money went to Provincial Muslim League fund. This continued for about two weeks until the ban was removed. During that period I had an opportunity to meet the firebrand Editor of Urdu newspaper "Zamindar" Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, a leading figure of the Khilafat Movement and non-cooperation agitation, and Nawa-e-Waqt Editor Mr. Hameed Nizami. Unfortunately nobody remembers the "Zamindar" and his Editor to say nothing of the services rendered by him to the cause of Pakistan. When I was made a Reporter. I asked Hussain Sahib what would be my beat. He said, Reporters have no beat. "All Reporters are Reporters and whatever story one can get from anywhere one should write it and submit it." I said sir, but you assign the reporters to different sectors. He said, "yes but that does not mean that their sector was their monopoly. Reporters should inform each other about the stories they pick up so that the stories are not duplicated."
One of my first tasks as a reporter was to go to Maulana Hasrat Mohani to check with him a copy of a report being filed on a speech he had made at Delhi. The report stated that the Maulana was telling some youths how to make a Molotov cocktail bomb. Upon being told that I had come from Dawn, he launched into a tirade against the Editor of Dawn. I walked out and protested to the News Editor that why he had sent me to such a violent person using such abusive language. I was told: "a journalist has no ego until his work is done. Go back and finish the task you have been given." I went back to the Maulana's residence. He again got angry: "You have come back". I said: "Why are you angry with me. I am just doing the job entrusted to me."
Another interesting incident of my reporting stint, which has a historical bearing also, came in April 1946. There was a Muslim League legislator's convention in Delhi and I went to cover it. The Standing Committee meeting was to take place at 11.30 am while the General Body meeting was to take place at 3.00 PM. As a news reporter I did not know it was the standing committee in session. I went and quietly sat in the back row. The Quaid-e-Azam came everybody greeted him and he sat down. He said "Gentlemen I could not sleep last night. We shall achieve Pakistan but my fear is that because there is a history of division of Bengal..." Now before the Quaid-e-Azam could complete his sentence Mr. Khwaja Nazimuddin said, "Mr. Jinnah, if Bengal is divided on that basis, there is nothing in East Bengal except the city of Dhaka and the Commissioner's Residence. Economically East Bengal would not be a viable state and Indian Hindus will occupy it in a short time".
Just at that moment one of the members of the Standing Committee noticed my presence there and said to me, "what are you doing here?" Quaid-e-Azam also looked at me and said, "You are not supposed to be here." I left obligingly.
Later I learnt that a sub-committee was formed with Choudhry Khaleequzzaman Sahib as convener. Now it should be remembered that the Muslim League resolution of 1940 demanded 'Muslim States in the North East and North West of the Sub-Continent.' In the resolution passed in 1946 at the Muslim League legislators' convention the word 'States' was turned into a singular word as the resolution stated that 'Muslim State in the North East and North West of the sub-continent shall be Pakistan' Mr. Suhrwardy had not been able to attend the morning session as his train was late. He was briefed by some Muslim Leaguers at Ghaziabad Railway Station, a short distance away from Delhi.
The next session of the convention was to take place at 3.00 PM. I went to the Railway Station to receive Mr. Suhrwardy. Journalists from other newspapers were there too. He was asked questions about Pakistan. He said "We shall have Pakistan, nobody can stop us from achieving Pakistan, and we shall demand a Railway Corridor between East Pakistan and West Pakistan". Before this day nobody had ever heard the nomenclature East Pakistan. Later on he was asked to drop the demand for a Railway corridor.
I continued as a Reporter till June 1946 before going back as Edition In-charge. It was the month of July or August, Mr. Hussain one day asked me: After bringing out the Edition you go and sleep, what do you do when you get up. "Sir, I meet people; go here and there." He said: "Thus you waste your time. Why don't you write Editorials?" I said sir, how can I write an editorial? You tell me on what subject I have to write. "Don't be silly," he admonished, adding "don't you read comments on various news items you edit for the paper. Write down those thoughts and that is the editorial." After a day or two he reprimanded me for not submitting an Editorial. Somehow on every second or third day after that I gave him a short note for about two months. He never read them in my presence and said nothing to me. None of them was ever printed and I never had the courage to ask him for his views on the notes that I submitted to him.
In the month of October I submitted an Editorial on "Beggary is a vocation in India and has nothing to do with poverty." That night I had not seen the editorial page proof. In the morning when I got up and found my editorial printed, in Dawn, I tried feverishly. When I went to the office as usual for night duty at 8.00 PM, Hussain Sahib said, "what are you doing here, get out". "Sir, what have I done? Please forgive me," I cried. He said, "You are no longer a Sub-Editor; you are now a leader writer. Go and see Mr. Altaf Hussain in the morning and about some time in November I became Assistant Editor of Dawn as an Editorial writer.
As the Congress conceded the Muslim demand for Pakistan, the British Government announced the June 3 Plan. Here I am not going into the details of the Plan, Quaid-e-Azam summoned Mr. Yusuf Haroon who was member of the Muslim League working committee. He had planned the publication of a newspaper, Pakistan Herald, from Karachi even before the June 3 Plan was announced. The Quaid told him that Dawn must come out from Karachi and the Herald press would be utilised for this purpose. Mr. Yusuf Haroon, then decided not to bring out Pakistan Herald even though the whole staff had been appointed for it. Mr. Haroon was also told that the Editor, who would not be issued any instructions by the management, would define the policy of the Paper.
When the Muslim League refused to participate in the Interim Government headed by Pandith Jawaharlal Nehru as the Congress was not willing to part with the Home Department, I carried a message from Mr. Zahid Husain, who was a friend of my late father, to Liaquat Ali Khan sahib to take the Finance Portfolio. Liaquat Ali Khan's budget speech was prepared by Zahid Chacha and Mr. Ghulam Mohammad. The budget was a bombshell. It was aimed at taxing the Hindu Banya who had been financing the All India Congress Party over the years. The budget increased the tax on income and at the same time removed the Salt Tax - a popular move with the Congress rank and file.
Mr. Altaf Hussain and I were transferred from Dawn Delhi to Dawn Karachi. I was assigned the task to prepare the Pakistan Independence Day Supplement. Mr. Altaf Hussain came along with the Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah to Karachi on 7th of August 1947 but I was still in Delhi getting the supplement printed. I arrived in Karachi on 10th of August 1947 with the supplement and was received by Saeed Abdullah Haroon.
Here I would like to mention certain events that I was witness to during the course of my career as a journalist.
In a meeting with some politicians, the Quaid was questioned about the constitution of the country. He said, "the Government of India Act 1935, is the product of the best legal brains of England and India. All that is required is to amend it for an independent sovereign state."
I learnt how to analyse the budget from Mr. Zahid Husain who was a classmate of my father. My father also knew the Finance Minister Mr. Ghulam Muhammad and I had access to him. I can recall that he was very angry with Mr. Chaudhry Mohammad Ali on his return from Hyderabad Daccan about the expenditure on the Dakota plane refitted with tanks to take the Quaid to Dhaka without a stopover in India. He wanted the issue to be discussed in the Cabinet Meeting. To everyone's surprise word came that the Quaid would himself preside over the meeting.
The Quaid instead of following the agenda took up the item of expenditure on the plane first. He said "Gentleman, I would like you to read the Government of India Act, 1935. You enjoy your ministerial position during my pleasure. As far as I am concerned this meeting is over". And he threw his file towards the Finance Minister and walked out. Raja Ghazanfar Ali grabbed Mr. Ghulam Muhammad by the collar and was ready to hit him for insulting the Quaid. The Finance Minister was asked to go to the Quaid with a written apology. The Quaid refused to meet him and just put in a line across the request. "Do not waste time on petty matters, you have more important work to do."
I can also recall when Mr. I.I. Chundrigar as Commerce Minister was called by the Quaid, to explain the grant of an import permit to a relative or a family friend who was in business. The Quaid said: "Chundrigar, I made a mistake in making you the Commerce Minister. I should have taken into account your family's business connections. The permit issued by you was perfectly within the policy. But you should have sent the file to either the Cabinet Secretary or the Prime Minister instead of approving it yourself. I suggest you resign and I will send you as Ambassador to Afghanistan." Such were the standards of public life and official propriety the Quaid would have set.
Quaid-e-Azam announced the foundation of Refugee Relief Fund as a large number of refugees were arriving. He asked the countrymen to make donations and send them to Habib Bank. He asked Mr. Altaf Hussain that Dawn should help in the collection for the fund. Altaf Sahib came and told me about it and I said we could do the same that Hindustan Time and the Times of India did when Gandhi and Nehru asked for donations. These newspapers asked their readers to make contributions to the fund set up by them and they would publish their names as an acknowledgement. We could do the same.
Then we went to the Quaid and Mr. Altaf Hussain presented this proposal to him. He asked whose idea was this. Altaf Hussain pointed at me and then the Quaid said, "Listen young man, never touch this nation's money. You belong to a people who stigmatized Mohammad Ali (Johar) as an embezzler. I never ask them to send me money. I tell them to send it to Habib Bank If anybody sends it to me I redirect it to Habib Bank."
After two days I proposed to Mr. Altaf Hussain that we should hold a Mushaira. He smiled and said go and propose this to the Quaid. I went to him and made my suggestion. He said I believe you spend more than you collect in such functions. I said Sir, please let us know what we should do. He was quiet for about two or three minutes and then said, "Alright you will not spend more than 20 rupees on any item without sanction from me." I was takenaback. However, we held the first Dawn Mushaira in early 1948. Mr.Ghulam Mohammad presided over the Mushaira. We collected over Rs 40,000. Total expenditure was about Rs 1200. The Mushaira was held in Sindh Madressah. I went and presented the cheque to Quaid-e-Azam with the list of expenditure on about 10 or 11 items. Seven days later, Mr. Raza, Quaid-e-Azam's Secretary, rang me and said, "Send me 21 rupees." I said "what happened." He said, "you did not give the receipt and said never mind I have paid the 21 rupees." I said no Sir I am coming. Then he put the papers before me. Quaid-e-Azam had sent the list of 10 or 11 items to Auditor General of Pakistan. The Auditor General's report praised our efforts to collect that much money at that time, keeping the small expenditure, in check. He wrote that receipts do not support expenditure of 21 rupees. Quaid-e-Azam had read the report and noted to ask Zuberi to pay the money. I paid the required amount.
About a month and a half later there was a function in the Governor General's House. I was also there. The Quaid saw me. He indicated to me to come near him. He said, "Well done! Do it again and collect more money." Sir, I said, "You fined me 20 rupees." He said why? I repeated to him the whole thing. He said, "Why didn't you ask for the receipt?" I said, "Sir, this was mostly for Cord (sutley) and Gum (lai). The sellers of these items are illiterate. They don't give receipts." He said, "Don't be silly. How do they keep their accounts. If they can keep their accounts they can give receipts, and if you people insist for receipts they will learn documentation and pay taxes." This was 1948, today we are struggling to document the economy, and the retailers pay a flat turnover tax instead of a real tax on income.
Here I remember another incident - the Quaid was ill in Ziarat. Mr. Altaf Hussain gave me a letter and asked me to go to Ziarat and give it to him in his hand. He will see you about 4.30 PM and a car will take you from Quetta to Ziarat. Till today I don't actually know what that letter contained. However, I went to him as arranged and for a while I was with him. His Naval ADC came in and gave him a pair of socks and also the receipt. The Quaid extended his hand for change. The Naval Officer said the shopkeeper did not have 4 annas change. The Quaid said, "Listen young man, we Musalmans in general, and youngmen in particular do not know the value of money. A paisa saved today is two paisas tomorrow, four paisa after that and so on and so forth. Because of our addiction to living beyond means and borrowing money we lost our sovereignty over this sub-continent."
On my first visit to East Pakistan as a member of a journalist's delegation, we were invited to a dinner with the Chief Secretary, Mr. Aziz Ahmad. I noticed that while our car was allowed to be driven into the compound of his residence and we were dropped in the portico, the provincial ministers were required to get down at the gate and had to walk up to the portico. His haughty attitude towards the Bengali political leadership meant a Brown Sahib replacing the White Sahib. On my return, I wrote in Dawn how resentful were the East Pakistani ministers with the attitude of the Chief Secretary. The Prime Minister soon transferred him from East Pakistan.
I visited India for the first time after partition with Shaheed-i-Millat Liaquat Ali Khan. I wanted to file a report from Delhi but was denied permission so that there was no news leakage. I used my old contact at the Viceroy's Lodge, which was now the Governor General's House and managed to send a report to Karachi.
The second Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan Mr. Abdul Qadir complained to me that the Government was not keeping its expenditure in check and forex reserves were depleting. I went to the Finance Minister Mr. Ghulam Muhammad and said: "You keep on harping on a surplus budget while the kitty is empty." He called Mr. Qadir and said: "What is Zuberi saying". I could not hear what Mr. Qadir said in reply. But he did thank me later on for making the Finance Minister realise the need to keep the expenditure in check.
While in Dawn at the end of 1950 I proposed that we should bring out an Evening Paper. Altaf Sahib said, "go and talk to Mr. Haroon". He was not prepared to go in such a venture, as Dawn itself was not earning enough money. My colleagues in Dawn and I at that time were very enthusiastic about this venture and sought permission from Altaf Hussain to let us bring out an Evening Paper by ourselves under the aegis of an organisation - a sort of unregistered partnership - that we name "Newsmen Combine."
It was decided that all members of the Editorial Staff would be share holders of this venture and the percentage of shares allotted to each member was according to their salaries. It was to be deducted in instalaments from their monthly pay.
Two or three months after this collection from the salaries we had enough money to buy newsprint for the publication of the daily Evening Star and it was mentioned under the title of the paper "Asia's first newspaper owned and run by newsmen".
However after about a year we were asked to pay the printing dues of the Pakistan Herald Printing Press. We did not have that much money because whatever we were getting through monthly deduction from salaries was spent on the purchase of newsprint for the circulation was increasing. So the paper was sold to the owners of the Pakistan Herald Press.
One day I was surprised to see an armed guard with Foreign Minister Chaudhry Zafarullah Khan. I inquired about the guard from Sir Zafarullah. He said: "Zuberi Mian he has been posted so that in case somebody kills me, he would kill the assassin so that nobody would know why I have been killed." These words turned prophetic when Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan was assassinated at Rawalpindi.
I came to know from my Editor, Mr. Altaf Hussain that the Muslim League leadership from East Pakistan had decided to seek the Prime Ministership in October 1951 after Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan's assassination. I went with Altaf Sahib to the Governor General, Khawaja Nazimuddin. I pleaded with him that he was not suited for the job and his simplicity would be exploited. Instead, I argued, he should remain the Governor General and appoint Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar as the P.M. Mr. Fazlur Rahman dissented with me and proposed that the Finance Minister be put in golden chains and be made the Governor General. I also impressed upon Khawaja Sahib that his decision to elevate the Secretary General, Finance, Chaudhry Mohammad Ali to the office of the Federal Finance Minister was not right, as every bureaucrat in the country would henceforth aspire to be a minister instead of accepting Federal Secretaryship as the end of the career line. I was told that "we have heard you and now you can leave". Both these decisions have had historical repercussions on our country.
When I told to my brother-in-law, Commodore Khalid Jamil at the Dilawar Naval Base about Ghulam Muhammad being made the Governor General, he said, "I bet Ghulam Muhammad would be the one who would dismiss Nazimuddin". I also met Khawaja Sahib when he was due to leave on a train journey for up-country, the red carpet for the P.M. was being rolled back. He very innocently informed me, "Zuberi, I have been dismissed".
The game of musical chairs in Karachi started with Ambassador of Pakistan to the US Muhammad Ali Bogra being appointed Prime Minister. Governor General Ghulam Muhammad refused to resign when he suffered a stroke. He was soon eased out of the office and I witnessed Mr. Iskandar Mirza slapping the paralyzed old man and pushing him in the car in the portico of the now Sindh Governor's House.
When Feroze Khan Noon was the Prime Minister, it was being debated in the Cabinet whether to renew the lease of Gwadar to Oman or not. He came to know that I was publishing the story. He called me and offered me duty free import licence as a bribe. I turned it down and said, " Prime Minister you have put a very small price for my honesty", and I walked out.
In the early hours of October 7, 1958, I received a call from the President House to attend a press briefing. Soon after Altaf Sahib called me to confirm that he had received a similar invitation. Since he did not drive and his Chauffeur was not available at that ungodly hour I offered to pick him up. We went together and near Rex Cinema we saw Army tanks on the streets of Karachi. Altaf Sahib asked me to pull to the kerb and said: "Do they intend to arrest us?" I said, "Sir, if they wanted to do that they would have sent soldiers to your residence". When we assembled in the President House, Iskandar Mirza informed us that the Government and the Assembly had been dismissed. The constitution was abrogated and Martial Law imposed, and that General Ayub Khan was appointed CMLA who would tell us the rules of the game. He was walking out after the short speech. At the door, he turned round and pointing towards the Editor of Dawn, he said: "Altaf, you behave yourself".
Just twenty days later, I happened to drop in the Naval residence of Commander C.S. Ahmad for a leak. I was in the bathroom, which had a window towards the garden. I heard Air Commodore Maqbool Rab hollering "I am in the air and you are on the Sea" and the President wants us to arrest the Army Chief. He had been sent to seek a Naval detachment to arrest General Ayub upon his arrival at the Mauripur Air base. When I came out I asked Air Commodore Rab what had happened? He held my hand and said, "You are my guest for a day." He would not leave me and I accompanied him to the Mauripur Air Base. I was allowed to ring up Mr. Altaf Hussain and inform him that it would not be possible for me to attend the office today due to some important business. I stayed there and had lunch with them. At about 4.30 PM General Ayub's plane arrived and as he got out of the plane, Air Commodre Rab saluted him and said: "Sir, I have been asked to arrest you by President Iskandar Mirza". General Ayub smiled and said, looking towards me standing at a distance, "You have brought Zuberi to publish the whole story." Commander C.S. Ahmad explained to him about the problem he faced. General Ayub accompanied us to the Defence Department on Ingle Road. There he met Lieutenant General Azam Khan and informed him of the situation. General Azam lost his temper, he was asked to cool down. Later with some troops he went to the President House and I also followed him. He kicked the bedroom door open of the President and ordered him to come out. The President's second wife - an Iranian divorcee - Naheed Mirza could be seen putting on her dressing gown over her night clothes. Iskandar was ordered to change his clothes. He was then pulled out, dragged and finally kicked in the same portico where he had slapped Ghulam Muhammad.
To our surprise, before Iskandar Mirza could leave the President House the British High Commissioner and the US Ambassador in Karachi confronted us. They pleaded to allow him to go into exile in the UK. General Azam was not ready to listen to them and said: "This is not your concern, how did you manage to come to the President House"? However, there were a lot of arguments and explanations and ultimately a Colonel was asked to take them to General Ayub. It was decided that Iskandar Mirza be allowed to go into exile after a written undertaking given by him and the British High Commissioner and the US Ambassador that Iskandar Mirza would not take any part in politics or issue any statement. Unfortunately the Qantas flight to London was delayed by some hours and Mirza had to be sent to Quetta until the Qantas flight arrived in Karachi.
General Ayub presented his first draft of 1962 Constitution to newspaper Editors in Muree. I asked why the word Islamic had been dropped before the Republic of Pakistan. Secondly, I also objected to the change from Quran and Sunnah to just in accordance with the tenets of the Quran. He was quite annoyed at my objection but I persisted that the injunctions of the Quran cannot be fully comprehended without reference to the Sunnah. He consulted Mr. Manzur Qadir who agreed to incorporate both the changes.
In 1958 General Ayub assumed power and declared himself the Head of State. In Dawn we took the stand and wrote editorials opposing this move. Our editorial argued that 'Army rule cannot be a substitute for democracy'. This opposition was continued and the owners of Dawn were asked to stop us from publishing anti-government articles and editorials. General Ayub was informed that when Quaid-e-Azam sent us from Delhi to bring out Dawn from Karachi they were told in writing that the Editor would conduct the policy of the Paper. The management had no authority to interfere. It was then that a conspiracy was hatched to oust Mr. Altaf Hussain and myself from Dawn. Somehow that conspiracy succeeded and by 1964 we were out of Dawn, one after the other. Mr. Altaf Hussain was offered ministership and he was made the Federal Minister of Industries. Later on, I was offered an Ambassadorship, which I did not accept. Then I was offered the Editorship of the newspaper Morning News. Mr. Zamir Niazi had also heard of the offer and he came to me and asked me, when was I taking over. I said, I had refused and he was surprised. I was also offered the Editorship of Pakistan Times which also I did not accept. However, some of my journalist colleagues particularly, Mr. Zamir Niazi, Kazi Abrar Siddiqui, Mr. Zamiruddin Ahmed, insisted that I must not leave journalism. It's a long story and at their persuasion I decided to do something on my own. I said, "We will work together again then, let us bring out an illustrated Urdu weekly?" At first they did not agree and they said you must bring out an English Paper. I said, "How can we compete with Dawn. It is a national newspaper and I have given nearly 20 years of my life to this paper". Kazi Abrar said, "Then let us bring out an Evening paper". I said, "How is it possible, I am the one who brought out Evening Star, managed and run by journalists, while being a senior Assistant Editor in Dawn". Somehow they agreed to an illustrated weekly and a declaration was obtained in the name of "Absar". But even a modest venture required money and I did not have that much at that time. I sought a loan from the Industrial Development Bank of Pakistan (IDBP) and placed orders for machinery. A great discussion followed with my colleagues and ultimately I decided to bring out a business / financial daily and then the "Business Recorder" started coming out in April 1965.
I was in Europe when the 1965 war broke out. All flights to Karachi were suspended. I met the Pakistan High Commissioner in London, who arranged for my return on the flight bringing the UN Secretary General U Thant to Pakistan on the condition that I would brief the Pakistan Ambassador in Tehran during the stopover about my assessment of what U Thant would be proposing. I had a long chat with Mr. U. Thant and reported to the Ambassador that the US under President Johnson had decided to play a second fiddle to the Soviet Union and we would be offered a ceasefire and it would be the Soviet Premier Kosygin who will be calling the shots.
My sons - Wamiq and Arshad - were active in the simmering agitation in the student community. They informed me that Mr. Bhutto had been dismissed and they were planning to be part of the big welcome to receive him at the Cantt Station in Karachi. I called Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in Islamabad. He said, " I have not resigned but have taken medical leave for operation on an abscess behind my ear". I met him two days later at 70 Clifton. Mr. Bhutto cried at the treatment given to him by the man whom he called "daddy". I told him, "Zulfi time is on your side and you should not feel disappointed as you would emerge as a leader in your own right".
Soon after General Yayha took over as President. At the first press conference he walked into the auditorium and was angry at his team for the television cameras and the lights placed for the meeting. He said, "What is this Tamasha? Remove all this". I said to a senior Secretary of the Government, "This man looks to be different and I hope you all will not lead him up the same path as you did Field Marshal Ayub". He countered me by saying, "Haven't you seen the Esso advertisement with a tiger roaring and flexing his muscle and then being put in a bottle with the caption - Put a tiger in your tank." He did meet with the same fate - caught between the army leadership, bureaucracy and the two leaders that had emerged as a result of the elections.
I accompanied General Yayha to the first Islamic Summit in Rabat. The Indians, through Algeria and Egypt, managed to convince others that India having the third largest Muslim population in the world must also be invited to the OIC. It was contrary to the principle laid down for membership of the OIC. I went to General Yayha who was taking his afternoon siesta in the hotel room and said, "Sir, let us pack up and go home. We must walk out of the Summit if the invitation to India is not withdrawn." We went into a huddle with other members of the delegation, which included Lieutenant General Ghulam Omar (Retd) and foreign secretary Sultan Mohammad Khan . A letter was sent to King Hassan of Morocco, the host, about Pakistan's objection and our decision not to be a member of the OIC if India was made a member. India knew before hand about the Algerian/Egyptian move and was quick to dispatch Vice President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed who managed to reach Rabat, the very next day with the Indian delegation. They were shocked when told that the invitation had been withdrawn. The Times of India came out with a cartoon showing a shoe mark on the back of a black sherwani with the caption "They are back from Rabat".
In my one to one meeting with General Yayha I was convinced that he was sincere about holding the general elections. Afterwards, when I realised that the West Pakistan bureaucrat - military combine would not be willing to hand over power to Mujib-ur-Rahman and Mujib himself would feel uncomfortable ruling from Islamabad I wrote an Editorial in the Business Recorder "Let us separate as friends." I recalled that it was the Bengali leadership, which had advocated for a Federation between the two wings in Delhi. They must be allowed to exercise the option to opt out now. Mr. Bhutto called me and was quite upset at the editorial.
Business Recorder took a principled stand against the nationalisation policies of Mr. Z.A. Bhutto's government. That was long before, Thatcherism made privatisation and denationalisation fashionable. Mr. Bhutto informed me at a private dinner that his Finance Minister, Dr Mubashir Hasan wanted Business Recorder to be banned. He asked me to see the summary lying with the Information Secretary Mr. Nasim Ahmed. In response I simply said I would. The Finance Minister a few days later issued a statement extolling the virtues of a mixed economy. Using that as a peg I wrote an Editorial in Business Recorder titled "Give him the boot or he will ruin the economy". Some months later in the middle of the night I received a telephone call from Mr. Bhutto saying, "Zuberi I have given him the boot. "Groggy from sleep I simple mumbled "Given whom the boot" to which he responded, "Were you sleeping "I ignored the question and he hung up leaving me confused. In the 11.00 am news bulletin of Radio Pakistan it was announced that the Finance Minister had resigned for health reasons. The interesting aspect of this story is that the Dr Mubashir Hasan was attending a conference in Cairo, Egypt, at that time.
At the first televised press conference of General Zia-ul-Haq, I asked him, "You have talked about patriotism and shunning provincialism. But the job application form for government service instead of requiring where his candidate was born also makes it mandatory to provide information about "where your father was born? After another fifteen years will the applicants be required to state where their grandfather was born." He issued on the spot instructions to remove this requirement but the bureaucrats worked around it and replaced it with the question: "What is your mother tongue?"
General Zia-ul-Haq one day asked me; "Zuberi Sahib, you knew the Quaid. What was in his opinion the Ideology of Pakistan." I said, "Sir, I need to write to respond to your question, but I am afraid your censor people would not allow it in print". He turned around to his Information Minister, Lieutenant General Shahid Hamid (Retd), to see that the censor did not use the knife on my Editorial. I came back to Karachi and wrote about the four precepts that the Quaids had given to us. (A) Pakistan would not be a theocracy (B) Muslims will live their lives in accordance with the Quran and Sunnah (C) Parliament will be Supreme. And, the fourth precept I wrote, he gave us while attending a reception in his honour by the Muslim Armed Forces Officers in Delhi at the residence of the then Lieutenant Colonel Shahid Hamid, now the Information Minister. There was a colonel in uniform who walked up to the Quaid and said Sir, there are better British officers than the ones selected by you. We wish you had sought our advice in the matter. Quaid-e-Azam pulled the officer by the button of his tunic and said: "Let me make it perfectly clear that in Pakistan you will be governed by a civilian authority and their orders would have to be carried out without demur. If you don't like that, don't opt for Pakistan."
When General Zia-ul-Haq visited Bangladesh, and, Maulana Sattar Edhi presented Ambulances that would be used for emergency services, the Bengali gentry in the President House, Dhaka, became quite emotional and complained to General Zia, "You have ditched us." I reminded them that it was they who had first opted in and then opted out of the Federation.
General Zia was due to visit Sri Lanka after Bangladesh and then proceed on a State visit to India. Some of us journalists where asked to skip the Sri Lankan portion of the visit and proceed directly to India to assess the mood of the Indian leadership. We met Prime Minister Rajiv Ghandhi who accused Pakistan of operating training camps for Sikh dissidents. I countered by saying: "Sir, if you are so sure where these camps are located, please form a joint journalist committee from both countries and we shall proceed this instant to Pakistan and go directly where allegedly these camps are located and we will expose the Pakistan Government". He did not accept my offer but did change the subject.
The Editors were called by General Zia in 1984 where he promised us about holding the elections. I happened to meet Mr. Fatahyab Ali Khan upon my return to the hotel. I told him I have it from the horse's mouth that he would hold elections. Fatahyab said, "Zuberi Bhai, why don't you believe me when I say he will not hold elections and instead you believe him". I said, "Because he says his namaz and you don't". Mr. Irshad Ahmad Haqani surprisingly reproduced this humorous conversation with the youngster in totality in his column in Jang - quoting me verbatim.
To my surprise General Zia instead of holding the elections called for a referendum. We were again called to Islamabad to hear his explanation. I told him about my conversation with Fatahyab and how embarrassed I felt. On his own he added: "So now you will say he says his namaz and still lies".
I can say without any hesitation that Mr. Muhammad Khan Junejo was by far the most honest Prime Minister in the post Ayubian era. We were returning from a state visit to the Philippines and saw the carpet for the Prime Minister being rolled off at Chaklala Airport, Rawalpindi, in the same manner as was done nearly three decades before at the Cantt station, Karachi, when Prime Minister Khawaja Nazimuddin was dismissed by Governor General Ghulam Mohammad.
After the general election held in November 1988, I wrote an Editorial calling on Benazir Bhutto to invite Nawaz Sharif to join her in a government of national unity. It was the only way, I wrote, to keep the army in the barracks. All my colleagues opposed its publication, saying "You can't mix oil and water." I had to overrule them to get it published. In hindsight I only wish both the young leaders had heeded my advice.
It had become a common joke among my senior colleagues that some eventful change would be taking place when I am abroad. When the 1965 war broke out I was abroad. Mr. Bhutto was hanged I was not in Pakistan. When General Zia's plane crashed I was on a trip. And, when Ghulam Ishaq and Nawaz Sharif stepped down I was again not in the country. The last October 12, 1999 change also took place in my absence.
The noble profession of journalism has now become a mere employment. But there is still hope as the press in Pakistan has managed to fill the vacuum of an effective opposition to check the excesses of men in authority. Let us hope and pray our children would do a better job.
The spirit of the Pakistan movement is now a distant dream. We have lost our sovereignty to multilateral and bilateral lenders and donors. The 'land of opportunity' during the first two decades has become the 'land of missed opportunities'. Meaningful change in the lives of the poor has yet to happen. We all are to blame for not living up to the ideals of the founding fathers despite every thing that this country has given to us.
After the general election held in November 1988, I wrote an Editorial calling on Benazir Bhutto to invite Nawaz Sharif to join her in a government of national unity. It was the only way, I wrote, to keep the army in the barracks. All my colleagues opposed its publication, saying "You can't mix oil and water." I had to overrule them to get it published. In hindsight I only wish both the young leaders had heeded my advice.
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