Wali Khan Babar (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

– 13 January 2011) was a Pakistani journalist working for

GEO News Geo News is a Rank Number 1 Pakistani news channel owned by the Jang Media Group. History The Geo Television Network started out with the launch of its flagship channel Geo TV in October 2002 but has since launched several other channels whic ...

who was killed by gunmen in the

Liaquatabad Liaquatabad, also known as Laloo Khait or Lalukhet ur, لیاقت آباد), is a neighborhood in Liaquatabad Town, within Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Liaquatabad was named after Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan, the first Prime Minister of Pakistan. ...

area of

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

. His murderers

Saulat Mirza Saulat Mirza ( ur, born Saulat Ali Khan; 1971–12 May 2015), was a Pakistani convicted murderer, target killer, and a political activist of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). In 1997, he was convicted of a triple murder and was awarded a d ...

and Faisal Mota (who are target killers of MQM) are sentenced to death by the court on March 10, 2015. According to the

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, New York, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journa ...

, Babar was the first journalist it had confirmed killed in a work-related death in 2011. Pakistan was the deadliest country for journalists in 2010. Despite the murders of several people associated with the investigation and the death of an accused, in March 2014 four people were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder, and two others were given death sentences ''in absentia''.

Career

Babar briefly joined

GEO English Geo Television Network is a television channel based in Pakistan. It was established in May 2002 and is owned by the Jang Media Group. The channel began its test transmission on 14 August 2002, with regular transmission beginning on 1 October 2 ...

in 2007 before moving to the mainstream GEO News channel in 2008. He was active in the journalism field for four years.

Political affiliation

Wali Khan Babar was an ex-provincial leader and lifelong worker of PSF (Pashtun Student Federation).

Investigations

From April 2011 till November 2012, various media outlets reported that all five eyewitnesses to the investigation of Babar's case had been murdered in cold blood one by one. The victims included two policemen, a brother of one police officer and an informer linked to developments in the case. All had been shot dead, mostly in drive-by shootings. The Last victim of the cold blooded had already identifies 4 out of 5 murderers of Wali Khan Babar and was called out and shot dead outside his home.

Reactions

He was buried amid protests organised by the Balochistan Union of Journalists and

Pakhtun-khwa Milli Awami Party The Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (; ), abbreviated as PMAP or PKMAP, is a political party in Pakistan's Balochistan province. It was founded by Mahmood Khan Achakzai, who was elected as the chairman, and Sher Ali Bacha, who served as the General ...

over his death. Journalists in other parts of the country also staged demonstrations, including outside the

Karachi Press Club The Karachi Press Club (KPC @pressclubkhi) ( ur, ) is an organization of the community of the journalists. It also takes account of academics, business people and people from the public service. Karachi Press Club was the first press club that w ...

; in Peshawar, gatherings were organised outside the

Peshawar Press Club The Peshawar Press Club (PPC) (Urdu: ) is an organisation of journalists and professionals working in media in Peshawar, Pakistan. The press club was founded in 1964 after the need for journalists to sit and organise press conferences was raised. Cu ...

and in

Peshawar Cantonment Peshawar Cantonment ( ur, , ps, د پیښور کنډک) is a garrison located in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Although the cantonment is located within Peshawar City District, it is an independent municipality under control of the M ...

. Scores of protesters expressed anger against the government for "shielding professional killers" and accused the Karachi-based

Muttahida Qaumi Movement Muttahida Qaumi Movement (abbreviated MQM) is a name currently claimed by two competing Pakistani political factions: * Muttahida Qaumi Movement – London, a political faction managed from the UK * Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan Muttah ...

(MQM) for the killing, saying the party was perpetrating "ethnic cleansing of

Pakhtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

, Baloch,

Sindhis Sindhis ( sd, سنڌي Perso-Arabic: सिन्धी Devanagari; ) are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group who speak the Sindhi language and are native to the province of Sindh in Pakistan. After the partition of British Indian empire in 1947, man ...

and the

Punjabis The Punjabis ( Punjabi: ; ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ; romanised as Panjābīs), are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group associated with the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of eastern Pakistan and northwestern India. The ...

" although MQM leader Altaf Hussain denounced the killing. In the meantime, the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors termed Wali Khan as a "Martyr of Journalism." The Pashtun

Awami National Party The Awami National Party (ANP; ur, , ps, اولسي ملي ګوند; lit. ''People's National Party'') is a Pashtun nationalist, secular and leftist political party in Pakistan. The party was founded by Abdul Wali Khan in 1986 and its curr ...

announced a three-day mourning period while the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) declared a black day during which black flags were hoisted above media centres, press clubs and journalist offices. In a related development, the

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan ( ur, ) (HRCP) is an independent, democratic non-profit organisation. Founded in 1987, it is one of the oldest human rights organisations in the country. HRCP is committed to monitoring, protecting a ...

called Babar's killing a "premeditated murder." The killing was condemned by President

Asif Ali Zardari Asif Ali Zardari ( ur, ; sd, ; born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician who is the president of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians and was the co-chairperson of Pakistan People's Party. He served as the 11th president of Pakistan ...

, interior minister

Rehman Malik Abdul Rehman Malik NI ( Punjabi, Urdu: رحمان ملک; born 12 December 1951 – 23 February 2022) was a Pakistani politician and a Federal Investigation Agency officer, having served as the Interior Minister from being appointed on 25 Marc ...

and

Pakistan Muslim League (N) The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) ( ur, , translit=Pākistān Muslim Līg (Nūn) PML(N) or PML-N) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right and Liberal conservatism, liberal conservative political party in Pakistan. Alongside the Pakistan Teh ...

leaders

Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain ( pa, ; ur, ; (born 27 January 1940) is a senior Pakistani politician from a Punjabi Jat family of Gujrat who previously served as 16th prime minister of Pakistan. Hussain is the party president of the Pakistan ...

and

Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi (Urdu, pa, ; born 1 November 1945) is a Pakistani politician who is currently serving as the Chief Minister of Punjab and the President of Pakistan Muslim League (Q), a conservative centrist to centre-right-nationali ...

. In a separate statement, former cricketer and

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI; ur, , ) is a political party in Pakistan. It was founded in 1996 by Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The PTI is one of the thre ...

chairman

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...

expressed his condolences and questioned the government's seriousness over addressing target killings. The

Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa The Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is located in Peshawar, the provincial capital. It was established under Article 106 of t ...

ordered a judicial inquiry following the news. An

FIR Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family (biology), family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North America, North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The ...

was accordingly filed by the police to investigate the murder. A special segment was presented on his killing in

Hamid Mir Hamid Mir ( ur, حامد میر; born 23 July 1966) is a Pakistani journalist, columnist and writer. Born in Lahore to a journalistic family, Mir initially worked as a journalist with Pakistani newspapers. He has hosted the political talk show ' ...

's current affairs program ''

Capital Talk ''Capital Talk'' is the flagship political talk show broadcast on Geo News. Hosted by Hamid Mir, Capital Talk looks at the challenges, issues and concerns facing Pakistan on a daily basis. The format includes several guests who participate in ...

''. On

World Press Freedom Day The United Nations General Assembly declared May 3 to be World Press Freedom Day or just World Press Day, observed to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right ...

, 2011, participants of a forum at the

National Press Club Organizations A press club is an organization for journalists and others professionally engaged in the production and dissemination of news. A press club whose membership is defined by the press of a given country may be known as a National Press ...

and

Newseum The Newseum was an American museum dedicated to news and journalism that promoted free expression and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, while tracing the evolution of communication. The purpose of the museum, funded by the ...

in Washington, D.C., called attention to world governments who licensed to punish news organisations that were critical of the government, as was the case for Pakistan that had used licensing to punish Geo News, for which Wali Khan had worked.

Personal life

Wali Khan was an ethnic

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

belonging to the

Babar Babar ( ur, ), also variously spelled as Baber, Babur, and Babor is a male given name of Pashto, and Persian language, Persian origin, and a popular male given name in Pakistan. It is generally taken in reference to the Persian language, Persian ...

tribe. He hailed from the town of

Zhob Zhob (; ) or Zhobak (), formerly known as Appozai or Fort Sandeman, is a city and district capital of Zhob District in Balochistan province of Pakistan. Zhob is located on the banks of Zhob River 337 km from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. T ...

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

and was a vocal critic of the state's policies pertaining to the

Balochistan conflict The Insurgency in Balochistan is an insurgency or revolt by Baloch nationalism, Baloch nationalists against the governments of Government of Pakistan, Pakistan and Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iran in the Balochistan, Balochistan ...

. He held a master's degree in international relations from the

University of Karachi The University of Karachi ( sd, ; informally Karachi University, KU, or UoK) is a public research university located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Established in June 1951 by an act of Parliament and as a successor to the University of Sindh (whic ...

. Before his death, he resided in Karachi's

North Nazimabad North Nazimabad ( ur, نارتھ ناظم آباد) is a suburb of, Karachi, Pakistan. North Nazimabad was developed in the late 1950s as a residential area for the employees of the federal government of Pakistan, and was named after Khawaja Nazim ...

suburb. He left behind a widow mother, three sisters and four brothers. His body was buried in

, his hometown.

Perpetrators

On 26 May 2012, news reports emerged that a primary suspect accused in Babar's murder had been killed during a police encounter with robbers in the Seaview area of

Clifton, Karachi Clifton is an upscale and historic seaside locality in Karachi, Pakistan. It is one of the most affluent parts of the city, home to some of Karachi's most expensive real estates. It is home to several foreign consulates, while its commercial cent ...

. The man was identified as Liaqat Ali. According to the police, Liaqat's car had been used in the shooting of Wali Khan Babar. Liaqat was with a gang of armed robbers at the time he was killed in the police encounter. The police's encounter with the suspect was controversial. The family of Liaquat Ali claimed that police encounter was an

extrajudicial killing An extrajudicial killing (also known as extrajudicial execution or extralegal killing) is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding. It typically refers to government authorities, whether ...

. According to his family, Liaqat recently arrived home on Friday from Punjab. He was arrested in the vicinity of Gulshan-e-Iqbal. According to his family, the police first took him to the highway and then told him to run, they then shot him and his acquaintance in the back, and let them to die before getting them to hospital. The cause of death was excessive bleeding. In March 2014, a special anti-terrorism court sentenced Naveed Polka, Muhammad Ali Rizvi, Faisal Mahmood, and Mohammad Shahrukh Khan to life in prison for the murder of Wali Khan Babar. Kamran and Faisal Mota were given death sentences ''in absentia''.

References

External links

Wali Khan Babar
on Facebook
Deadly business

Urdu Documentary on Wali khan's Death
{{DEFAULTSORT:Babar, Wali Khan 1982 births 2011 deaths Assassinated Pakistani journalists Baloch journalists Deaths by firearm in Sindh Geo News newsreaders and journalists Pakistani television journalists Pashtun people People from Zhob District University of Karachi alumni Journalists from Karachi People murdered in Karachi