While there is no precise date formally recorded in history books as to when exactly youth journalism in print media commenced in Pakistan, I take the liberty of assuming that a visible, regular form of such journalism made its first appearance in 1964.

To mark 50 years of this process in 2014, an interaction was arranged by the Citizens’ Initiative on Media Issues with the support of a German foundation, in Karachi, last November.

The small but well-attended event (about 45 persons of varying ages, professions, distinctions) commenced with observations on the status of youth journalism in today’s age of digital media rather than with a recounting of the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of when it all began. The “juniors” spoke first, while the seniors, who were present, so to speak, at the “creation” followed. Together, the contemporary and the past made for a lively, intense exchange of perceptions and experiences.

Organising an event on media issues prompts Javed Jabbar to take a trip down journalistic memory lane

A brief historical background may provide readers for the first time with principal elements that have not ever been previously covered by any other journal.

At the University of Karachi during 1964-66, during the government of President Ayub Khan, a small group of students concluded that it was necessary to publish an independent students’ newspaper.

Normally, students’ publications were invariably campus-based or institutionally controlled eg: school, college, university magazines, journals, etc. Their content was subject to approval by the heads of respective institutions.

The need for a new kind of publication, independent of control by administrations, was shaped by three factors :

1) Significant issues of the higher education sector required to be viewed from the perspective of students, as distinct from the viewpoints of government, the university administration ( eg. including university vice chancellors, senate, syndicate, faculty, etc.) .

2) Students’ unions and collective representative forums such as the Inter-Collegiate Body (ICB) were actively involved in promoting democratic principles and values. These had become a special priority in the years following the 1958 military intervention. Authoritarianism and quasi-dictatorial forces had gained strength. While these were ostensibly giving Pakistan a new stability and continuity of governance, subtle but potent divisive and centrifugal trends were also emerging. This dimension required to be reported from the perspective of the young generation.

3) The Press & Publications’ Ordinance 1962, and other actions of the Ayub Khan government had created a coercive, suppressive environment for news media.

To the extent possible, we tackled subjects of vital interest to education governance, to young people and to the country as a whole, in a candid, sometimes even too blunt a manner.

Thus, an independent journal to articulate the views of youth, particularly about freedom of expression, accountability and education governance became a vital subject deserving of public attention.

Considering the context of the times, it was almost a miracle that an official “Declaration” was obtained to enable the launch and regular publication of the Pakistan Students’ Observer as an independent fortnightly English newspaper published and marketed in its own right as a journal, and NOT as a campus-based journal .

The motto of the journal published on the front-page mast-head defined an optimistic vision! It read : “Through youth … hope; through Press … strength.”

Credit for organising and launching this journal goes to Senator (retired) Khawaja Qutubuddin, then a senior student of Government Commerce College, who was also the founder-president of the Pakistan Youth Students’ Organisation (PYSO ) which conducted several successful events to mobilise youthful energy in a constructive direction. This self-effacing gentleman in his working years was elected President of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Vice President of FPCCI. Tariq Saeed, who went on to become the founder-President of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce & Industry, but already in the mid-1960s was associated with his family’s thriving business in the auto spare parts field and other sectors, made a valued contribution by securing funds, or providing his own funds, to make the venture possible. Each member of the editorial and marketing team, named on the mast-head of the journal, be it Khan Akbar Majeed as associate editor or Mahboob Elahi as advertising director or Shahid Nazir Ahmed and others contributed hard work to the process.

Considering the context of the times, it was almost a miracle that an official “Declaration” was obtained to enable the launch and regular publication of the Pakistan Students’ Observer as an independent fortnightly English newspaper published and marketed in its own right as a journal, and NOT as a campus-based journal.

We printed the newspaper from the small Ameen Art Press located on Mcleod Road presently known as I.I. Chundhrigar Road, opposite the Jang group street. Owned by Mr Ameen Tareen, editor-publisher of the Sunday Post, and managed by his brother Yaseen Tareen, the place was a make-shift nerve-centre of youth journalism! In 1965, tragically, we lost the charming, engaging company of Yaseen Tareen who perished in the crash of PIA’s inaugural flight to Cairo.

Periodically, we missed deadlines, both because of our other responsibilities as students, and in other extra-curricular activities, as also due to simple lack of timely funding! But the initiative was sustained for three years, and more, even after this writer completed his University education in 1966.

To the extent possible, we tackled subjects of vital interest to education governance, to young people and to the country as a whole, in a candid, sometimes even too blunt a manner. We sought to make relevant target readers conscious of what we considered were their respective roles, responsibilities, lapses and successes. We marked the premature loss of colleagues such as Shahinda Dhanani. We became a random, sometimes erratic, always (self-assumedly!) sincere record of about three memorable years, including the 1965 war that had several far-reaching consequences. Some of the original pages printed 50 years / 48 years ago, thoughtfully saved by Khan Akbar Majeed, were re-printed in smaller size than the original full-newspaper size for distribution and evocation of the flavour of past times (e.g. price per copy: 6 paisa, later increased to 15 paisa!) at the event referred to above. A humble contribution was made to invigorate discourse in difficult conditions with limited resources.

There have been tumultuous changes since 1964-66. The catastrophic disintegration of the original Pakistan in 1971, the gradual, uneven, yet determined re-building of a new vision for Pakistan, polluted in recent years by the virus of extremism and violence, the advent of freedom of the media, now virtually an extreme in itself, the emergence of the internet and the digital media, the coming of age of new generations of youth.

The reflection and appraisal last November highlighted a continuing commonality of concerns for journalism in general and for youth in particular as well as focusing on a vastly transformed social, economic and political environment.

The writer has served as Senator and Federal Information Minister and was the editor, Pakistan Students’ Observer, 1964-66.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, January 18th, 2015

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