KARACHI: Shahid newspaper vendor for the rise and fall of the newspaper industry

Mohammad Rafiq, who runs a newspaper stall for the past 63 years in Karachi, says there were a total of 170 stalls in the busy areas of the city, but now finding a ‘lamp’ does not provide a newspaper stall.

Mohammad Rafiq alias Sher Khan operates a newspaper stall in a small cabin adjacent to Iranian cafe Khair Abad, in front of the Shaheen Complex in Karachi.

According to him, these stalls used to be in the past in the Tower, MA Jinnah Road (former Bandar Road), Burns Road and Sadar areas, which have now been reduced to less than a dozen.

They point to the presence of a smartphone because of the generalization of the nutrition and the presence of a smart phone to everyone. Similarly, due to the digital edition of the newspapers, the demand for a newspaper hidden has ended.

At the same time, he said that the newspaper owners did not take interest in the sale of newspapers and that after getting low profits from the hawkers, such a large number of newspaper stalls were stopped.

According to Mohammad Rafiq: ‘Now you are not able to find a newspaper stall with a lamp.’

Mohammad Rafiq, 70, says that the stall belonged to his father, he started to come here at the age of seven and today, despite the passage of 63 years, he is running the stall, but there is no income.

According to Mohammad Rafiq: ‘This business has no income anymore but has become a habit for so many years. If I don’t come to the stall one day, it looks strange. ‘

In a conversation with Independent Urdu, Mohammad Rafiq said: ‘There was a period that people used to gather in large numbers in the morning to pick up a newspaper. As soon as we brought a newspaper, people would voluntarily stand up. I would announce that anyone who has open money or change should come forward and those who do not have a change, go and bring the money open. ‘

Mohammad Rafiq operates a newspaper stall in a small cabin adjacent to Iranian cafes on II Chandigarh Road in Karachi (Amar Guru/Independent Urdu)

Recalling the ‘golden day’ of the most sale of the newspaper, Mohammad Rafiq said, “On the night of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was executed, the second day when the newspaper came, the people started to crowd. At that time, our stall was four feet wide and six feet long. Standing inside it and selling the newspaper. The note from the newspaper sales was thrown inside the stall and a pile of notes reached my chest. ‘

Before the rule of former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf, newspapers were very popular in Pakistan, many newspapers were released in English, Urdu and other languages.

At that time, newspapers were received by the public and private advertisements in Pakistan and the newspaper industry was at its peak.

During this period, when satellite channel licenses were issued, a large number of private TV channels began, which began to have direct coverage of any incident, while the same news was read in the newspaper the next morning.

With the fall of the newspaper industry, the majority of newspaper stalls spread across the city closed, but Mohammad Rafiq’s shop is one of the few surviving stalls.

Mohammad Rafiq predicted that “After a few years, people will tell the new generation, there were newspaper stalls, where he used to go and buy a newspaper every morning.”