Frontier Post
Encyclopedia
The only English-language newspaper distributed through Pakistan and Afghanistan collectively, The Frontier Post is based in Peshawar
, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, previously known as the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan
.
Launched in February 1984 by Rahmat Shah Afridi, it is published in Peshawar
, Lahore
and Quetta
.
served as its resident editor.
In 2005, reporter Amir Nawab travelled to Sararogha to cover the ceasefire proposed by Baitullah Mehsud
, but was killed by a local militant group dubbing itself Sipah-e-Islam who stated that they believed journalists were "being used as tools in negative propagand...against the Muslim mujahideen".
tribe, has been supportive of the Jirga
system of government, referring to it as "one of the most time-honoured institutions in the tribal world".
In January 2010, the paper issued an editorial harshly criticising the sudden demonisation of the Pakistani government, after the US-backed dictator Pervez Musharraf
was removed, and Western accusations that the new government was sponsoring militants in Afghanistan.
laws when it printed a Letter to the editor
titled "Why Muslims Hate Jews", sent by eMail seemingly from an American Jew named Ben Z'Dec, that was harshly critical of Islam
. Five employees were charged; the paper responded by filing action with the police against two of its employees it believed had deliberately inserted the letter without approval, hoping to harm the media outlet. Vandals later attacked the Posts offices in retaliation for the perceived offence, and set the printing press
on fire.
Ultimately charges were only upheld against four men, Munawwar Mohsin who had been directly responsible for printing the letter in the paper, news editor Aftab Ahmad and Computers Chief Wajeehul Hassan, and General Editor Mahmood Shah Afridi. Mohsin was convicted, Ahmad and Hassan were acquitted, and Afridi absconded.
The trial revealed that the Post had hired Mohsin only days before he printed the letter, unaware that he was a drug addict who had fled from the local mental hospital, since they were hardpressed to find English-speaking people willing to help coordinate the publication of their paper. He was convicted of the blasphemy charges and sentenced to life imprisonment, but found to be "mentally ill".
According to The Globe, the paper was ultimately "not guilty of blasphemy...it was guilty of inefficiency".
In June 2001, similar charges were laid against the Urdu-language
paper Mohasib.
Peshawar
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, previously known as the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
.
Launched in February 1984 by Rahmat Shah Afridi, it is published in Peshawar
Peshawar
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
, Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
and Quetta
Quetta
is the largest city and the provincial capital of the Balochistan Province of Pakistan. Known as the "Fruit Garden of Pakistan" due to the diversity of its plant and animal wildlife, Quetta is home to the Hazarganji Chiltan National Park, which contains some of the rarest species of wildlife in the...
.
History
The paper originated in Peshawar, but in 1990 they opened a branch in Lahore where Khaled AhmedKhaled Ahmed
Khaled Ahmed , born 21 December 1943, is a best known Pakistani political analyst, his weekly column appears in Pakistan's newspaper The Friday Times. He regularly contributes to The Daily Times, both published in Lahore....
served as its resident editor.
In 2005, reporter Amir Nawab travelled to Sararogha to cover the ceasefire proposed by Baitullah Mehsud
Baitullah Mehsud
Baitullah Mehsud was a leading militant in Waziristan, Pakistan, and the leader of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan . He formed the TTP from an alliance of about five militant groups in December 2007. He is thought by U.S...
, but was killed by a local militant group dubbing itself Sipah-e-Islam who stated that they believed journalists were "being used as tools in negative propagand...against the Muslim mujahideen".
Editorial position
The editorial staff, which is predominantly from the AfridiAfridi
Afridi of rough hilly area in the eastern Safed Koh range, west of the Peshawar Valley and east of Torkham, and Maidan in Tirah, which can be accessed by the Kajurhi plains and the valleys of Bara and Churah in Pakistan...
tribe, has been supportive of the Jirga
Jirga
A jirga is a tribal assembly of elders which takes decisions by consensus, particularly among the Pashtun people but also in other ethnic groups near them; they are most common in Afghanistan and among the Pashtuns in Pakistan near its border with Afghanistan...
system of government, referring to it as "one of the most time-honoured institutions in the tribal world".
In January 2010, the paper issued an editorial harshly criticising the sudden demonisation of the Pakistani government, after the US-backed dictator Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...
was removed, and Western accusations that the new government was sponsoring militants in Afghanistan.
Blasphemy case
On January 29 2001, the Post ran afoul of federal blasphemyBlasphemy
Blasphemy is irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. Some countries have laws to punish blasphemy, while others have laws to give recourse to those who are offended by blasphemy...
laws when it printed a Letter to the editor
Letter to the editor
A letter to the editor is a letter sent to a publication about issues of concern from its readers. Usually, letters are intended for publication...
titled "Why Muslims Hate Jews", sent by eMail seemingly from an American Jew named Ben Z'Dec, that was harshly critical of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. Five employees were charged; the paper responded by filing action with the police against two of its employees it believed had deliberately inserted the letter without approval, hoping to harm the media outlet. Vandals later attacked the Posts offices in retaliation for the perceived offence, and set the printing press
Printing press
A printing press is a device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium , thereby transferring the ink...
on fire.
Ultimately charges were only upheld against four men, Munawwar Mohsin who had been directly responsible for printing the letter in the paper, news editor Aftab Ahmad and Computers Chief Wajeehul Hassan, and General Editor Mahmood Shah Afridi. Mohsin was convicted, Ahmad and Hassan were acquitted, and Afridi absconded.
The trial revealed that the Post had hired Mohsin only days before he printed the letter, unaware that he was a drug addict who had fled from the local mental hospital, since they were hardpressed to find English-speaking people willing to help coordinate the publication of their paper. He was convicted of the blasphemy charges and sentenced to life imprisonment, but found to be "mentally ill".
According to The Globe, the paper was ultimately "not guilty of blasphemy...it was guilty of inefficiency".
In June 2001, similar charges were laid against the Urdu-language
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
paper Mohasib.
Columnists
- Dr. Sher Zaman
- Sajid Ansari
- Feyyaz M. Pasha
- Dr. Tanvir Hussain Bhatti
- Farman Nawaz
- Saqib Tanveer
- Yusuf LodhiYusuf LodhiYusuf Lodhi Yousaf Lodhi also known by his pseudonym ' was a Pakistani editor, journal, cartoonist and author of over six books....
- Afrasiab Khattak
- Air Commodore (Retd) Khalid Iqbal
- Ghulam Asghar Khan
- Dr. Abdul Ruff
- Barrister Amjad Malik
- Sajjad Shaukat
- Dr. Raja Muhammad Khan
- Mamoona Ali Kazmi
- Akbar Mayo
- Asad Khan Bettini
- Afshan Afzal
- Dr. Raja Muhammad Khan
- Maryam Gillani
- Dr Inayatullah Fazi
- Syed Usman Azhar