Business Recorder commenced publication on 27th April 1965 as a four-page daily printed on flat bed. Today, by the grace of the Almighty, the solid foundation laid by its founding team and the dedication of its staff it is a 24-page daily newspaper printed simultaneously from Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad on broad sheet. This transition, however, has not been without hiccups and tribulations. The journey was arduous, even testing at times, but we have resolutely stood committed to our motto: 'In Economic development Lies Our Salvation'. In fact, this credo remains relevant and with the passage of time is indeed more compelling for Pakistan today than perhaps ever before.
It is by now a known fact that the 1965 war with India dealt a body blow to the country's economy and it began to teeter. The then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, was left defenseless and isolated during the 1965 war. Contact between the two wings of the country was broken. "They felt abandoned by Islamabad. They were despondent, mortified and alienated," writes Air Marshal Asghar Khan (who was the only West Pakistani who reached East Pakistan via China) in his book "The first round". The defenselessness and isolation of East Pakistan during the 1965 war brought into focus the imperatives of autonomy and autonomous military command for the eastern wing. Shaikh Mujib championed and vigorously promoted this concept and as his following and political power snowballed, he became more aggressive in his demands and militant in his actions. We advocated an amicable resolution of the crisis with a view to averting the break-up of the country; and we also underscored the need for a peaceful negotiated settlement in order to avoid massive bloodshed even if it led to the secession of the then East Pakistan. The country's economy had hardly commenced recovery from the telling effects of the 1965 war, when another war was foisted upon it in 1971. This precipitated a game changer in the country and indeed its economy. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government that assumed the reins of government thereafter, embarked upon a policy of nationalization of the commanding heights of the economy. By April 1972, as many as thirty two industrial units were nationalized along with life insurance companies and cotton export. On 1st January 1974, banks, oil marketing and shipping sectors were nationalized. Subsequently cotton ginning, flour milling and rice husking units were nationalized too. As a result, the morale of the private sector was at its lowest ebb. A wave of gloom and despondency pervaded the entire industry and trade. The word 'Seth' had become a swear word and public sector ruled the roost. We make bold to say that Business Recorder remained true to its beliefs and principles and, firmly stood by the private sector and championed its cause even in that hostile environment. Through 'Brief Recordings' columns we started analyzing the annual reports of listed companies. Thus, this newspaper became a trend-setter in Pakistan's print media.
The 1980s witnessed the exploitation of religion to perpetuate General Ziaul Haq's rule over the country. The Objectives Resolution was made a substantive part of the constitution as against its previous place as the preamble. Cases were brought in courts challenging bank interest as haram (forbidden). This ensued in a healthy debate within the country and this paper also took a position on the issue through its numerous editorials, arguing that money has its cost and that there is also a cost of intermediation that a bank incurs through its role of a financial intermediary between its depositors and borrowers. Therefore a case can be made against compounding of interest and penal interest as being haram but certainly not against charging of simple or 'puritan' interest by the bank. To support our argument we cited that the word used in the holy Quran is 'Riba' which is usury and not interest. Our view was in contrast to the view of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CCI) that was then chaired by a retired superior court judge. The obscurantists were extremely upset with us and matters deteriorated to the extent that in May 2000, our offices in Karachi were set on fire; gutting our newsroom and archives. The printing facilities too were torched and two precious lives were lost in this outrage. It goes to the eternal credit of the newspaper's staff that its issue for the next day did appear using our facilities in Lahore. A makeshift newsroom was created in a house near our office and the newspaper was available to our valued readers every day without interruption. This incident was termed by one of our colleagues, the "baptism of fire'.
By far the most serious threat to life and limb of the people working in this newspaper came on 12th May 2007. The then suspended Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, decided to visit Karachi. The whole city was virtually sealed with containers. A cross-fire ensued between the militant wings of two political parties on Business Recorder Road where our offices are situated. Aaj News, which also has its facilities in the same media complex, true to its creed to keep the people informed, began live transmissions of violence. Realising that the whole world can see the militants on their television screens they began firing at us, demanding that transmissions be stopped. This attack persisted for over seven hours and so did the transmissions. It only stopped when finally the law enforcement agencies arrived at the scene to disperse militants.
These were some of the testing times that we went through during the last half century but the biggest challenge that we continue to confront is to persuade our people in authority in particular, that unless Pakistan is economically strong, it would neither be truly sovereign nor command much of a voice in the comity of nations.
Objectivity has been the guiding principle in our work and remains so in our sacrosanct duty to keep our readership correctly informed. We are the only newspaper in the country that has a Research Department for analyses and informed comments. This indeed is most important for a business newspaper that impacts on decision making and policy formulation. We are extremely conscious of this onerous responsibility and strive to live up to our readers' confidence in us that we cherish ever so dearly and strive to preserve.
Below this column is the rationale and vision of the founder and founding-editor of this newspaper, the late Mr. M. A. Zuberi, that he enunciated in the maiden issue of this paper fifty years ago on 27th April 1965. It is being reproduced to facilitate our readers to judge our performance. Have we remained true to the cause and stayed the course that we set for ourselves and promised our readership to deliver? This is a question that we cannot and should not answer. It is a call that only our valued readers can make, for every Business Recorder reader is a true judge in this realm.