This year again Maulana Zafar Ali Khan’s Death Anniversary was commemorated with great fervour throughout the country on 27th November. Hundreds of people visited his tomb in Karmabad and laid wreaths of flowers there. Along with media coverage, dozens of colleges, schools, and organizations organized special functions on this occasion. University of Management and Technology organized an International conference on completing two hundred years of Urdu Journalism. They devoted a whole session to Maulana Zafar Ali Khan and his Journalism. It was addressed by Mujeebur Rehman Shami, Khalid Mehmood, chairman Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, Prof. Zahida, and myself, and attended by Dean Anjum Zia, Dr. Mian Javaid, Monzir Elahi, and a large number of scholars and students. On the sidelines of this International Conference, an exhibition of Maulana’s books was also organized by the Maulana Zafar Ali Khan Trust. Another important function was in the Maulana Zafar Ali Khan Trust Auditorium addressed by Hakeem Rahat Nasim Sohdarvi, Khalid Mehmood, Khalifa Ziauddin, Rana Ameer Ahmed Khan, Azhar Malik, Dr. Mian Sajid Hussain, myself.
In Maulana Zafar Ali Khan Trust speakers said that Maulana Zafar Ali is still a role model for our Urdu Journalism and he is the one who set glittering norms and values for the journalism profession of the sub-continent. He was the first person who joined journalism after graduation {from Aligarh University}.
He devoted his life to the freedom of the sub-continent and protecting the rights of the Muslims and the Unity of the Muslim Nations. He spent a very busy time in Aligarh participating in literary and intellectual discussions and was also appointed as the editor of the students’ magazine. From here he went to the Hyderabad Deccan and worked in some very important positions. There, he also started a magazine
“Afsana” and then issued another quality journal named “Deccan Review”. People of high profile used to write in these magazines. At the end of 1909, he was compelled to leave Hyderabad. He receive information about his ailing father and returned to Lahore. Then he went to his native town Karmabad with his father Maulana Sirajuddin. After his father’s death, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan took over the charge of his father’s weekly “Zamindar”. He also started Deccan Review from his hometown for some months. Then he shifted his weekly to Lahore and upgraded it to a daily. He was a top-class writer, poet, and orator. With full command of Urdu, English, Arabic, and Persian languages, he edited his daily in a marvelous way. He brought the best calligraphists and writers and translators to his newspaper office and made it a quality paper. But his dashing writings and poetry soon got public attention and love and Zimindar’s circulation graph went very high. Daily Zamindar was the first Urdu newspaper that started getting news agency Reuter’s news service through a teleprinter machine. It was the first newspaper that reached a circulation of 30 thousand daily. For its printing, it was the first to arrange a steam printing press. Zafar Ali Khan wrote against the white rulers boldly and faced a continuous chain of fines, and lockups. He paid more than one hundred thousand rupees as fines in those days and on different occasions was sent to jail for more than 14 years. He also attended the founding meeting of the Muslim League in December 1906 at Decca. After joining Muslim League he went on long tours of speeches and his speeches won popular support for the Muslim League. He was elected a member of the Central Assembly in 1946. Maulana Zafar Ali actively participated in Tehreeq-e-Khilafat and supported the Muslims in all of their movements. He never surrendered because of the ruler’s fear, and always said what he thought. His oratory and writings were so impressive that no movement started by him ever failed. His newspaper was so popular that even illiterate people would like to purchase it for one Anna and then for listening to it, read by someone, they were paying two Anna to the reader. Daily Zamindar was the only newspaper in the world that had the maximum love and respect of its readers. Whenever its security and press were confiscated people themselves collected the donations and after gathering enough money its securities were deposited and a new printing press was purchased. No other newspaper can ever win that much love from its readers.
After the speeches, the audience’s comments were invited by Chairman Maulana Zafar Ali Khan Trust Mr. Khalid Mehmood. The audience appreciated the Trust’s efforts to popularize the true zeal and brave attitude of Maulana in journalism. They stressed introducing Maulana Zafar Ali Khan’s services to the youth and a movement should be started with the name ” Lovers of Maulana Zafar Ali Khan”. Chairman Khalid Mehmood liked this idea and said that we will discuss it in detail.
