THIS IS MY STORY—84
MY JOURNEY THROUGH THE ERA OF AYUB KHAN TO THE TIMES OF IMRAN KHAN.
GHULAM AKBAR………..
Replacing Farhad Zaidi
Daily Mashriq was suddenly short of staff that night. And also without an Editor. I was summoned by Enayat Sahib to his residence.
“Here is a challenge for you Akbar Sahib. You are Mashriq’s Editor from today. But the first issue tonight you have to produce with a depleted newsroom.”
“If you can remember sir,” I said. “I as Kohistan’s Editor put up quite a fight to Mashriq—didn’t I?”
Enayat Sahib just put his hand affectionately on my shoulder; and said.
“Rush to the office and good luck to you.”
The staff left behind by Farhad Zaidi included two ‘ancient entities’ from Anjam –Taskeen Alig and Syed Sabri. They were good for nothing. But there were two youngsters whose looks and talk gave me some confidence. Syed Aftab was one of them and Syed Raza Ali Abidi the other. To the later I promptly gave the responsibility of controlling the Newsroom. In the months to come I was to recommend his name to the BBC for a scholarship. His name is familiar to every ear that has been a BBC listener.
I passed my test that night with flying colours. My working hours those days used to be from 9:00 a.m to 2:00 a.m Exactly 17 hours with two hours off in between, for lunch and dinner. Dinner mostly used to be taken at 2:00 a.m My residence was at a walking distance from the office.
My success delighted Enayat Sahib the most. He had always invested his trust in my ability and commitment. And I never failed to rise to the best of his expectations. To be Editor of the country’s second biggest newspaper at the age of just over twenty-seven was no mean honour. In that position I got opportunities to interact with the country’s boss—Field Marshal Ayub Khan.
