Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman was the founder and editor of the
Jang Group of Newspapers which has currently grown to be the most popular
Urdu and English newspapers in Pakistan. As a founder of the hugely circulated Jang Group of newspapers, he is a legend in Pakistan. A self-made newspaper magnate he ranks among the most successful newspaper entrepreneurs in Asia
Early life
Mir Khalil ur Rahman was born in 1927 to a middle-class family in the town of
Gujranwala,
Punjab, where he received his schooling and college education. Having finished his basic education, he graduated in Accountancy from the Punjab University. During the Second World War, his parents moved to New Delhi, capital of the British Indian Empire. It was here that he discovered his love for journalism. The newspaper world attracted him far more than the dull books of accountancy. He had a passion for reading and writing and a fondness for newspapers and magazines. He sat glued to his radio set, listening to the latest war news.
[2]In 1940, when he was still a student, he started a newspaper for
Muslims in pre-partition
Hindustan fighting in
World War II in
Delhi. He called it the Jang, or War. This was not an exaggerated name as some believed, but a statement against war, and so Mir Khalil-ur-Rehman made it clear that he was doing this for the soldiers and not to encourage the Second World War.
Career
When the creation of the Muslim-majority State of
Pakistan was established on August 14, 1947, Mir Saheb moved to Karachi, capital of the new Muslim State, and started publishing the Daily Jang from there which was funded by a loan of 5000 rupees from Abdul Ghani Barq of Ferozsons Printers. Pakistan’s Governor General, Quaid-i-Azam
Muhammad Ali Jinnah was delighted due to this move and offered the government’s help in running it. Mir Saheb however, declined the offer saying that freedom of the press was his motto and the goal for the Fourth pillar of State in Pakistan. Mir Saheb galvanised the press in Pakistan and helped in founding the Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors (CPNE). He opposed tooth and nail any Government measure or action which curbed the freedom of the press in Pakistan.
[3]His legacy
Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman’s legacy in Pakistan is the well established Jang Group of newspapers which are published from all the major cities of Pakistan. His newspaper empire is managed by his two sons, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and Mir Javed-ur-Rahman. Mir saheb personally trained them in the science of newspaper management. As a result, besides expanding the Jang newspaper group, they have added to it a powerful
GEO television channel which has shaped into Pakistan’s most popular television channel
[4] and its programmes can also be watched in the US and the UK and many parts of the Islamic world.
[5]Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman continued to work at the newspaper till his death in 1992.
MKRF is a foundation based on his great activities..
[1]
Inspiring Karachi 