Journalism Pakistan
Journalism Pakistan
India expands crackdown on Pakistani media, bans Rana Mubashir’s YouTube channel ہندوستان نے نامور صحافی رانا مبشر کا یوٹیوب چینل بلاک کر دیا، پاکستانی میڈیا پر پابندیوں میں اضافہ NCHR and MMfD launch Fellowship to Empower Journalists on Digital Rights & Gender Inclusion این سی ایچ آر اور ایم ایم ایف ڈی نے صحافیوں کو ڈیجیٹل حقوق اور صنفی شمولیت پر بااختیار بنانے کے لیے فیلوشپ کا اعلان کر دیاPFUJ condemns 'black laws' and harassment on World Press Freedom Day پی ایف یو جے کا "سیاہ قوانین" اور ہراساں کرنے کی مذمت عالمی یوم آزادی صحافت پرDawn refutes fake report claiming TTP stole PAF F-16 jet ڈان نے ٹی ٹی پی کے ایف-16 چوری کرنے کی جھوٹی خبر کی تردید کر دیFreedom of expression shrinks in Pakistan as PECA Amendments take toll: report اظہارِ رائے کی آزادی محدود، پیکا میں ترامیم سے میڈیا کو شدید دھچکا: رپورٹDawn urges Indian media to abandon war rhetoric ڈان کی بھارتی میڈیا سے جنگی بیانیہ ترک کرنے کی اپیلIndia bans 16 Pakistani YouTube channels following Pahalgan attack پہلگام حملے کے بعد بھارت نے پاکستان کے 16 یوٹیوب چینلز پر پابندی لگا دی'In A Different Realm' offers a philosophical take on cricket's greatest innings ان اے ڈیفرنٹ ریلم کرکٹ کی عظیم ترین اننگز پر ایک فکری نقطۂ نظر پیش کرتی ہےCoordinated or coincidence? Identical tweets by Pakistani journalists raise eyebrows ہم آہنگی یا محض اتفاق؟ پاکستانی صحافیوں کے ایک جیسے ٹویٹس نے سوالات اٹھا دیےThe PSL paradox: pageantry or progress? پی ایس ایل کا تضاد: دکھاوا یا ترقی؟Sher Afzal Marwat launches personal attacks on journalists after PTI expulsion پی ٹی آئی سے نکالے جانے کے بعد شیر افضل مروت کے صحافیوں پر ذاتی حملےJournalist Sanaullah Khan alleges FIA blocking accounts of YouTubers and families صحافی ثناء اللہ خان کا انکشاف: ایف آئی اے یوٹیوبرز اور ان کے خاندانوں کے اکاؤنٹس بلاک کر رہی ہے

Yusuf Lodhi (Vai Ell) (1938-1996)

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Yusuf Lodhi (Vai Ell) (1938-1996)

Yusuf Lodhi, an accidental but acerbic cartoonist, who introduced a new form of political caricature in Pakistan, joined the world of journalism in 1969 as assistant editor of Peshawar Times.

An article by Seher Gul – Vai Ell and his master – in The Friday Times describes him as “something of a bon vivant, the consummate anti-establishment liberal.”

Lodhi joined the Frontier Guardian in 1972. For the next two years he and the newspaper landed in trouble because of anti-establishment views. The editor went to jail a number of times as the newspaper was banned in 1974.

At the same time Vai Ell’s book Bhutto My Master, a book of cartoons harshly criticizing Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s authoritarian style of governance, was banned by then NWFP government.

Vai Ell was also arrested in 1975 in connection with the murder of Hayat Khan Sherpao – elder brother of Aftab Khan Sherpao – who died in a bomb blast in Peshawar. However, the cartoonist was released after a few months.

As an editor of Frontier Guardian, Lodhi had, according to the article, hired “a temperamental cartoonist who had the habit of disappearing without warning. One day the man failed to turn up, and Yusuf Lodhi was in great need of a cartoon, so in desperation he drew it himself. That was the day editor Yusuf Lodhi began to be assisted by a cartoonist called Vai Ell (a play on his initials YL). This pseudonym was for many years thought to be that of a very pretty French woman. Vai Ell went along to promote that belief, much to his own amusement.”

Vai Ell joined Outlook in 1974 as special correspondent. However, the same year his interview of Abdul Wali Khan, then chief of National Awami Party (NAP), led to a ban on Outlook.   

Mahir Ali says: “A substantial portion of Vai Ell’s enduring fame owes itself to the early years of the Bhutto era when his cartoons adorned the covers of periodicals such as his own Frontier Guardian and Outlook.

By the time in 1979 when Vai Ell joined The Muslim he had authored more books – Sag Aza, There was a little girl, and Dushman Asman Apna.  The NWFP government also banned Sag Aza.

In 1980 Vai Ell became graphic designer for South, London and from 1981-85 worked for Dawn. He also worked for The Nation, Frontier Post, Herald, and The Star.

He received a number of awards, including Scandinavian International in 1983 and Helsinki International (1985). However, Vai Ell refused to receive the APNS award which was to be given by the Chief Martial Law Administrator.  

In Vai Ell on Faiz, Lodhi illustrated the verses of Faiz Ahmed Faiz.

(Sources: sajjanlahore.com, shahid-saeed.org; thefridaytimes.com)

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