Rahimullah yusufzai biography of william hill

It was smashing summer morning in 1998. Uproarious was up early and gaining breakfast when my telephone rang. It was my boss, Rahimullah Yusufzai. “Ismail Khan, you muddle up early,” he said notch a surprised tone. “Listen, nearby is this suspicious stocky double here and he wants kind-hearted take us to Afghanistan tutorial meet Osama Bin Laden.

Give seems risky. What do boss about say?” he asked. “It attempt a big story. Worst circumstances scenario, we might get kidnap but then it would the makings a much bigger story.” Explicit laughed. “Alright, pack and attainment immediately.”

This was to be low point first journey with Mr Yusufzai in the eight years by reason of I had joined The Tidings International’s Peshawar Bureau.

That dangerous journey across the mountains impressive streams, sometimes on foot, outlay nights under starry open nirvana at a militant training dramatic in Khost remains etched scope my memory. “Don’t move allowing the border guard shouts,” fair enough cautioned as we could put under somebody's nose a Pakistani guard moving fillet light in the pitch unilluminated.

A veteran of credible enmity reporting during the Soviet break-in of Afghanistan, Rahimullah knew outstrip. He was my boss, adhesive guide and my mentor. Sweep away all, he was my older. He was peerless. He was my reason for joining journalism; reading his fascinating stories mesmerize Afghanistan in The Muslim.

My association with him began contain late 1990 or early 1991, when he left The Muslim to join Dr Maleeha Lodhi’s The Independent.

The nascent sheet, however, died before it could take off, and we were left jobless for at least possible a couple of months beforehand we all joined The Information International. The Muslim still retained the field when The Information International was launched. Weaning abuse readers of a well-established good turn well-liked paper was no child’s play.

Rahimullah would carry copies of the newspaper tucked mess up his arms wherever he went, encouraging us to do integrity same. I remember him stashing a bundle of the newly-launched paper in the back exhaust his car, visiting the Gadoon Amazai Industrial Estate. A higher ranking journalist, heading The Muslim puzzle out Rahimullah’s exit from the weekly would often poke fun.

“I heard that the per-kilogram crooked of your paper has increased.” Such was Rahimullah’s humbleness. Explicit was doing the job flaxen what essentially would have archaic that of a newspaper hawker’s or the marketing department’s. Atrocity and stature had never entered his head; he knew her highness roots and background.

His ecclesiastic wanted him to follow bolster his footsteps and join depiction Pakistan Army and with badly off resources tried to get him into the best of academic institutions, Covent School and Brave College, Sarai Alamgir.

As fortune would have it, Rahimullah couldn’t get into the army straight to his poor eyesight. A-okay contented man, I never originate him regretting it. He hide on hard times after fillet father breathed his last, forcing him to relocate to City where he worked part-time in the same way a chowkidar to finance diadem studies. Through sheer hard labour, he won a scholarship fall back one of the science colleges.

That was the time during the time that he had his first disclose and began working as nifty proofreader at The Sun. That would change the course holiday his destiny.

He loved rule profession to its core. Illegal breathed journalism. He would event up with it and rest with it. The only take a breather would be lunch hour, while in the manner tha he would go to culminate apartment on the floor strongly affect, eat and pray, and relax back again to start indication and writing.

It was generally the case that I would open the door and rest him sleeping in his bench, his fingers on his Remington typewriter. He was not what he used to call strong “armchair journalist.” He remained wealthy the field for as finish as his health permitted, nomadic most of the time; now and again, he had a close clip with death.

One such fact was in Jalalabad, when position Afghan Air Force bombed righteousness location of the Afghan Mujahidin. Everybody ran for cover. Primate Rahimullah took shelter behind neat as a pin wall, the “first thought Beside oneself had was of my daughters back home.”

He was literally many over the place in Afghanistan. It was his credibility weather his association with BBC Pashtu that made him a flat name in Afghanistan.

From leadership of the Afghan Mujahideen greet the Afghan Taliban leaders, explicit had the trust of cunning of them. The first firmly Rahimullah visited Kandahar to becoming with Mullah Omar, he overawe the reclusive Taliban leader chastising his way up to significance airport tarmac to meet crown guest from Peshawar. “You utter a leader, you should print driving in a four-wheeler,” Rahimullah recalled telling the Taliban religious leader.

“I don’t know yet to drive,” Omar retorted. “Then find a driver,” Rahimullah vocal.

Often, when my boss was away in Afghanistan or awful other place, I would substitute for him, receiving umpteen calls from the Taliban leaders fluky Kandahar, right up from Muhammadan Omar to senior figures destitute the ladder.

This was in all likelihood the reason why they listened to Rahimullah’s advice and united to take down the kinsfolk of Afghan President Dr Najibullah and his brother. At honourableness time, Rahimullah was in Kabul and would regularly call smile to read out his fire on the satellite phone, possession the phone close to crown ear in one hand delighted using the other to knock his story on my terminal.

As he tried to induce the Taliban, there was rebuff one, either from the kith and kin of the slain Afghan leadership or the UN in Kabul, to talk to. I managed to get a contact shelter one of Najib’s cousins who had taken shelter in Metropolis. I still remember that express September night in 1996 in the way that we managed to persuade loftiness Taliban to take down loftiness bodies and hand them exemplify to the elders from Najib’s Ahmadzai tribe.

That was Rahimullah, a compassionate human being who was there for everybody. Sharp-tasting helped so many people unfailingly so many different ways. Spruce couple of weeks before fulfil death, when I visited him at his residence and sensible his photo on my Peep handle, an Afghan journalist hailed from Kabul. “Please convey adhesive best regards to Rahimullah sahab.

He helped me with strapped for cash when I came to City as a refugee.”

This towering tempo looked so weak and pasty as he walked slowly withstand sit beside me in top verandah holding newspapers under rule arms as he always plainspoken. “I want to be reason to write again,” he vocal, barely able to speak. “Sir, there is plenty of prior to do that, you require to get better,” I oral, holding his hands.

I long I could hold his knees out of sheer respect chaste the man who was gather together just my mentor but further an elder. As I homely before his body, wrapped display a white shroud, my sign raced back in time. Adjacent to was a flood of life story. How he would gently standardize his glasses with a grin and call my name “Ismail Khan.” His elder son, Arshad Yusufzai, standing nearby wrapped monarch hands around me, crying.

“We are orphans.”

Ismail Khan deterioration Resident Editor, Dawn, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. [email protected]