n era of struggle for free media in Pakistan ended with the demise of Rehmat Shah Afridi, founder of The Frontier Post, who left for his eternal abode on December 9 in Peshawar. He was 72. Revival of The Frontier Post was his last dream.

Afridi, according to family sources, was born on April 13, 1951, at Khajoori in Khyber Agency. He got his education at Jon Khan School and College in Khajoori. Later, he traded variously in luxury cars, crockery and gems. In recent years, this scribe had several meetings with him. He talked freely about his businesses and his struggle for independent journalism.

Rehmat Shah, Lala to his colleagues and employees, soon developed an interest in political activism, literature and music. In national politics, he inclined towards the Pakistan Peoples Party. He supported the party in 1988 and 1990s and treated Benazir Bhutto like a sister. In 1989, he played an important role in foiling the bid to remove Benazir Bhutto through a no-confidence motion in the National Assembly brought by the opposition as he used his influence on some MNAs from what used to be the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Lala became a household name after he founded The Frontier Post. The paper was launched from Peshawar in 1985. It soon came to be recognised as a strong voice against the military rule. Under the editorship of the late Aziz Siddiqui, it also made a name for quality journalism. In 1989, he launched The Frontier Post from Lahore. Several people who would later excel in English journalism started their careers with The Frontier Post. The paper brought together workers from all classes - from elite to lower middle class. The FP had a reputation early on as a good employer. However, because the government and big business were reluctant to give advertisements to the FP on account of its content, the paper soon fell on bad times financially. Lala told this scribe several times, “I have sacrificed hundreds of millions of rupees for the cause of free media.”

In 1999, he was arrested in a narcotics case. He denied the charge, always maintaining that it was a bogus case meant to teach him a lesson for his criticism of the establishment. He was convicted and sentenced to death. However, on appeal, the sentence was commuted to life in prison. In 2009, he was released on the order of then-president Asif Ali Zardari.

Lala told this scribe several times, “I have sacrificed hundreds of millions of rupees for the cause of free media.”

Unfortunately, the FP was closed down from Lahore and Islamabad by 2001. In Peshawar, the paper’s offices were attacked by a mob and burnt to ashes for publishing blasphemous material blamed later on negligence by a sub-editor. This inflicted deep wounds on Lala, who was incarcerated in Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore. Seeing the FP revived as a vibrant newspaper was his last dream. For this he struggled hard. However, the objective proved elusive because of financial constraints.

During several meetings between 2017 and 2021 with Rehmat Shah, this scribe was fascinated by his account of his ventures during the Afghan War against the former USSR, and his friendship with Ahmad Shah Masood and Gulbadin Hikmetyar. “I managed to broker a truce between them when they were fighting each other,” said Shah in a meeting.

Lala said in his youth he had been inspired by Ghani Khan, the famous Pashto poet. He also loved Ameer Hamza Shinwari, the great Pashto Sufi poet. “Whenever Hamza Shinwari visited our home in the early 1990s, Baba would not let him leave. He would insist on a longer stay. They would recite poetry all night,” says his US-based son Jalil Afridi.

Lala had a luxurious home at Baqar Lane, Canal View, Lahore, where he would learn to play Rabab from a teacher called from Peshawar.

The kind and soft-hearted Rehmat Shah Afridi would show his ‘attitude’ to those who took him for granted. Otherwise, he showered love on everybody– from his office boy to the editor and the business manager.

The writer is a senior journalist, teacher of journalism, writer and analyst. His X handle: @BukhariMubasher