KARACHI, June 5: Speakers at a function at the Arts Council on Wednesday heaped accolades upon Ahmad Ali Khan, former chief editor of Dawn, for his consummate professionalism, unswerving commitment to the freedom of the press and ability to steer a major newspaper through many national crises.

Dr Manzoor Ahmed, who presided over the function, said the basic malaise that journalism was afflicted with, was the education of journalism. “When the University of Karachi decided to teach journalism, I opposed the move forcefully. I argued that it would be folly to teach young men and women to be good journalists without teaching them the finer points of the language they would be writing in, without acquainting them with literature and without allowing them to have a good grasp of the subjects they would be tackling as newsmen.”

Talking about Ahmad Ali Khan, Dr Manzoor said he did not know the former chief editor of Dawn personally but, he added, he was aware of his numerous personality traits.

Dr Ahmed said Ahmad Ali Khan had received his BA from Aligarh Muslim University in 1943 and not in 1993 as erroneously mentioned in the Arts Council invitation card. He added that Ahmad Ali Khan embodied all those attributes of a university graduate that Newman had enumerated in his book, “The Idea of a University.”

Senior journalist M.A. Zuberi recalled that he had met Ahmad Ali Khan for the first time in 1946 in the office of Dawn in Delhi. He added that their association had lasted till 1965.

“When Ahmad Ali Khan joined Dawn in Delhi, it came to light that he was a leftist. The then editor of Dawn, Altaf Hussain, used to make him write editorials about the former Soviet Union, saying that being a communist only he (Ahmad Ali Khan) was well aware of the weaknesses of the USSR. Being a thorough professional, Ahmad Ali Khan used to write the editorials in a flinty manner, irrespective of his ideological commitment.”

Ahmad Ali Khan prefaced his speech with a few light-hearted anecdotes, recalling how a couple of mix-ups had been committed by him and his colleagues inadvertently. “Lord Mountbatten was coming to this region on a very important mission. Altaf Hussain had alerted everyone. We were all geared up to accord this event the importance it deserved. When the plane arrived, our photographer went to the airport, took the picture of the first man who got off the plane and made a beeline for the office. The following day the picture appeared with a caption saying that Lord Mountbatten was alighting from a plane at the airport. The man in the picture was Lord Mountbatten’s secretary. The editor was so upset by the error that he did not even give the photographer a dressing-down.”

Ahmad Ali Khan said the market of English newspapers consisted of 150,000 to 175,000 readers. Besides, the increase in circulation was also nominal, he added. “If these figures are correct, then only 0.1 per cent of the population reads English newspapers. Despite the fact that English is an international language, being increasingly employed in the fields of science, diplomacy, literature, etc, it is no longer the language of mass medium in the country. Nor will it be for the next 100 years. It is imperative then Urdu and other regional languages be adopted as mediums of instruction.”

Sabihuddin Ghausi, president of the Karachi Press Club, said that nearly 90 per cent of the print media was in the clutches of five or six families who treated their newspapers as their fiefdom. He said there were few professional editors left in the country, adding that some could be called dummy editors. He said Khan Sahib had been a professional editor who had never succumbed to pressure.

Zubeida Mustafa said Khan Sahib’s association with Dawn had been so long that his name had become synonymous with the newspaper. She added that Mr Khan had not believed in democracy but had also practised it, especially at editorial meetings where members had been allowed to voice their views without let or hindrance.

S.H. Hashmi, Yousuf Shirazi and Mujahid Brelvi also spoke on the occasion.