Daily Times

Azhar Jafri had never been afraid of taking photos of any social evil and getting them published in the newspaper to awake the quarters concerned. His every picture would attract huge public attention and government action. The award-winning celebrity photojournalist’s career spanned over 43 years.

His fearless career, however, took fearful turns in March 2013, when we saw him worried,” says Naheed Jafri, the widow of Azhar Jafri.

On March 2, 2013, Azhar Jafri was overseeing the construction of his new house in the Lahore Press Club Journalists Colony when he noticed some posters lying there. When he picked them up, they turned out to be a sort threatening call. A banned outfit threatened him with consequences for his beliefs.

“He returned home worried and broken,” she says.

“I never saw him so depressed and down in the limps in his whole career. He would always look refreshing and cheering when he returned home despite having a day full of activities, shells, riots, lathi charge and so on.”

Azhar Jafri gained nationwide fame for his unprecedented coverage of pro-democracy demonstrations on The Mall during the Zia Martial Law in the early 80s. He documented the whole campaign braving tear gas shells, and baton charge. He himself suffered wounds while covering riots and violent demonstrations in Lahore and elsewhere.

Ms Jafri says Azhar Jafri never did journalism of difference in faith or religion. In fact, he covered the religious events or demonstrations by all school of thoughts across the city. He would highlight the beautiful and softer sides of religion which would increase harmony and peace in society,

She says in the times of test and turbulence, they first took up the matter of threatening calls with their second home: the Lahore Press Club.

Former Lahore Press Club secretary Sajid Majeed says he remembers the day when Azhar Jafri came to the club, beaten and broken. On being asked, he produced the posters which had abusive slogans against Jafri sahib. This shocked all of us.

“In the next few days, we held a couple of demonstrations outside the club and the assembly hall.” Besides that, the club body issued a statement condemning the threats and urged the government to take severe action against the culprits.

He says the club body took similar actions when another member Rizwan Razi was picked by the Federal Investigation Agency under cybercrime law.

“We demand that the government provide protection to all journalists so that they work under enabling environment for a better reporting regime.”

Side by side, Jafri sahib moved the Harbanspura police station on March 7, 2013, and got registered a first information report (FIR) against unidentified people.

Then law minister Rana Sanaullah says their government always took swift actions whenever a journalist was threatened by anyone, including non-state actors.

The police registered the FIR, visited the crime scene a couple of times and offered Jafri sahib security, which he politely declined. Assistant sub-inspector Zafarullah Khan, who probed into the complaint, says the case proved to be a blind one.

“The elements never repeated the offence. Mr Jafri was also clueless about them.”

The case at the moment is ‘unresolved’ and ‘dakhil daftar’ (put in the record).

The incident, however, had a telling effect on the health of Jafri sahib.

“He suffered an immense amount of trauma,” his son Aun Jafri says. This led to heart complications. In 2014, Mr Jafri moved to London and remained there for six months for treatment.

Up to 72 journalists have been killed in Pakistan from 2002 to 2018. According to the Pakistan Press Foundation, 48 of them were killed in a targeted killing. Their cases linger on.

Punjab Union of Journalists leader Rana Azeem says they have been reduced to protest whenever a journalist comes under attack. He said they have been demanding for a long time to make laws for the security of the journalists.

According to the information obtained from the PID under the information act, a draft of Journalists Safety, Security and Protection Bill, 2018, is under discussion that allows aid to the families of journalists and media houses employees who are killed while on duty and also ensures the investigation of crime or threats against journalists. Special Assistant to Prime Minister Dr Fidous Ashiq Awan says the government is going to announce its media policy in the next few weeks. The media policy will come up with effective measures regarding the protection of journalists.

In 2016, he suffered cardiac arrest and was treated in a Lahore hospital. He remained bed-ridden for over a month. During those days, his wife says, Jafri sahib did not talk much.

“If a picture is worth 1,000 words, I need a million words to explain what I usually feel when I see something worth a camera click, how much attention I pay to the detail of the picture,” Mr Jafri told this reporter in those days.

He had been in news photography since 1972, and during his career, he took several, without any doubt, the most iconic pictures.

In 1985, he was covering a meeting of leaders of two sects at the Badshahi mosque when both sides found nothing better to do than brawl insides and outside the mosque. The activists flashed and used hockey, batons, knives, and pistols at each other.

Mr Jafri first ran for a cover and after a while, he saw two groups beating each other in front of the mausoleum of Dr Muhammad Iqbal.

“Bearded punching each other and the mausoleum in the background, made my picture perfect,” he would say.

He remembered as soon as he took the picture, a man held him at gunpoint and ordered him to waste the roll. Before he entered into an argument with Jafri, the armed activist ran to rescue his fellow who was being beaten at the mosque gate.

During his career, he had a close shave several times. But he was never afraid of going to work.

In the late 80s, he says, he was near Karbala Gamey Shah on Muharram 10 when sectarian clashes erupted. He was running corner to corner to take pictures when a bullet hit a man who was standing by him. Similarly, in the 80s, he was taking the picture of a man trying to burn a car during a protest at Nila Gumbud. “I was just five feet from the man, who was shot at and killed by someone. Sometimes I feel, the gunman had aimed me. It’s all a matter of luck! ”

On November 17, 2016, Azhar Jafri died peacefully at home. He is survived by one son, one daughter, widow and millions of fans.

In 2017, the Lahore Press Club dedicated its lobby after his name and decorated it with his iconic pictures.

The piece was written as part of the Pakistan Press Foundation fellowship.