22 April 2015

A day in the fight for the right to know

April 22, 2015 12:42 am

Six bullets were pumped into my body on April 19, 2014 in Karachi. I was to make a journey from Islamabad to Karachi. I wasn’t very keen on the trip because I had received many threats a few days earlier. I wanted to go on leave and had already informed my management in writing about the threats.

The director of current affairs at Geo News was insistent that I conduct a special show from Karachi on suicide attacks: why the ratio of suicide attacks hadn’t gone down despite a 100-day break in US drone strikes. The channel was planning a talkshow with more than eight guests. It was not possible to do a programme like that in our humbler office in Islamabad. I agreed to do it from Karachi, but half-heartedly. I tried to deceive my ill-wishers by booking a flight from Islamabad to Quetta. I changed the flight only on the morning of April 19 and was sure that my enemies were much smarter than me. I shared my apprehensions with my wife. She sacrificed a black goat (Sadqa) before my departure.

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