The inevitable was fast approaching. As days passed, even the distant hope of Roman Ehsan’s recovery that some of us might have had faded into eternity. It was all too obvious that within days, if not hours, he would not be among us. All regular visitors to the Lahore Press Club (LPC) prayed for Roman in their hearts, but were hesitant to even discuss his condition with others – as if they had already submitted to the Divine will.
Roman Ehsan, who passed away on Feb 1 at the age of 43, leaving behind a wife, three daughters and a son, easily fell among the most popular of Lahore’s journalists. One rarely saw him disturbed or agitated; in fact, he would manage to make others smile even during the most testing of times. However, this was only one side of the picture. When the news of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination reached the LPC, he vented out his emotions as if he had lost a close relative.
After doing his Graduation from Govt Islamia College Civil Lines in 1986, he joined daily Jang as an apprentice sub-editor the following year. When daily Musawat, a PPP spokesperson newspaper, re-opened after Gen Zia-ul-Haq’s death in a plane crash on August 17, 1988, he was among the first ones to join it.
Before the October 1990 general elections, Roman re-joined daily Jang as a sub-editor. Soon, he was transferred to the reporting section, where he got a chance to work with the likes of Anjum Rashid and Hamid Mir. For the next decade or so, he worked as a special correspondent for the newspaper with the PPP as his beat. In this capacity, he cultivated close relations with the party’s top leadership, but never sought any personal favours. After the launching of Geo TV, Roman was among the first ones to join the channel. In 2008, he joined Dunya TV as bureau chief, but luck did not allow him time to oversee the channel’s launch.
Roman Ehsan’s close friends remember him as an excellent team player. “He remained positive even in the most adverse of situations. When we started our careers, our salaries were barely enough to meet the expenses. During this period of adversity, he helped us develop the habit of sharing with and caring for others,” says Rana Farid, a close friend of Roman who now works as news editor with a leading Urdu daily.
Coupled with his gracious nature and pleasant behaviour, team spirit made Roman a popular figure among journalists of Lahore. No wonder, he was elected as president of the Punjab Union of Journalists (PUJ) in 1994. The same year, he was also elected as a member of the LPC’s governing body. However, designations hardly mattered for someone as well-liked and well-respected as Roman, who was known for adopting ideological stances on issues.
The scribe was witness to at least one such incident. When Bryan D Hunt, principal officer of the US Consulate, Lahore, assumed charge of his office about three years ago, he invited journalists to his place for discussion over hi-tea. Roman was the only one to dare disagree with the American official; he contested Hunt’s argument that all Pakistani political parties have rigged elections or have benefited from this practice. Having worked closely with PPP, his beat, Roman argued that the party had been the victim of rigging by the establishment in all general elections since 1988. It is important to remember that the PPP was in opposition at the time and most of the journalists present on the occasion hailed from then-Punjab chief minister Pervaiz Elahi’s ‘chopper group’.
Roman had brain hemorrhage on Dec 28. Rana Farid tells TNS that he was unusually unhappy and angry a day before that – the occasion of Benazir Bhutto’s first death anniversary. Despite best of efforts to save him and the formation of many medical boards, his brain never showed any signs of recovery. His condition was so bad that many TV and radio channels aired the news of his death a week before he actually passed away. Throughout this period, the atmosphere of the LPC remained tense and gloomy, as everyone missed Roman’s company and prayed in vain for his health. In a way, the announcement of Roman’s death took his fellow journalists out of a state of shock, but only briefly!
By: Mustafa Nazir Ahmad
Roman Ehsan, who passed away on Feb 1 at the age of 43, leaving behind a wife, three daughters and a son, easily fell among the most popular of Lahore’s journalists. One rarely saw him disturbed or agitated; in fact, he would manage to make others smile even during the most testing of times. However, this was only one side of the picture. When the news of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination reached the LPC, he vented out his emotions as if he had lost a close relative.
After doing his Graduation from Govt Islamia College Civil Lines in 1986, he joined daily Jang as an apprentice sub-editor the following year. When daily Musawat, a PPP spokesperson newspaper, re-opened after Gen Zia-ul-Haq’s death in a plane crash on August 17, 1988, he was among the first ones to join it.
Before the October 1990 general elections, Roman re-joined daily Jang as a sub-editor. Soon, he was transferred to the reporting section, where he got a chance to work with the likes of Anjum Rashid and Hamid Mir. For the next decade or so, he worked as a special correspondent for the newspaper with the PPP as his beat. In this capacity, he cultivated close relations with the party’s top leadership, but never sought any personal favours. After the launching of Geo TV, Roman was among the first ones to join the channel. In 2008, he joined Dunya TV as bureau chief, but luck did not allow him time to oversee the channel’s launch.
Roman Ehsan’s close friends remember him as an excellent team player. “He remained positive even in the most adverse of situations. When we started our careers, our salaries were barely enough to meet the expenses. During this period of adversity, he helped us develop the habit of sharing with and caring for others,” says Rana Farid, a close friend of Roman who now works as news editor with a leading Urdu daily.
Coupled with his gracious nature and pleasant behaviour, team spirit made Roman a popular figure among journalists of Lahore. No wonder, he was elected as president of the Punjab Union of Journalists (PUJ) in 1994. The same year, he was also elected as a member of the LPC’s governing body. However, designations hardly mattered for someone as well-liked and well-respected as Roman, who was known for adopting ideological stances on issues.
The scribe was witness to at least one such incident. When Bryan D Hunt, principal officer of the US Consulate, Lahore, assumed charge of his office about three years ago, he invited journalists to his place for discussion over hi-tea. Roman was the only one to dare disagree with the American official; he contested Hunt’s argument that all Pakistani political parties have rigged elections or have benefited from this practice. Having worked closely with PPP, his beat, Roman argued that the party had been the victim of rigging by the establishment in all general elections since 1988. It is important to remember that the PPP was in opposition at the time and most of the journalists present on the occasion hailed from then-Punjab chief minister Pervaiz Elahi’s ‘chopper group’.
Roman had brain hemorrhage on Dec 28. Rana Farid tells TNS that he was unusually unhappy and angry a day before that – the occasion of Benazir Bhutto’s first death anniversary. Despite best of efforts to save him and the formation of many medical boards, his brain never showed any signs of recovery. His condition was so bad that many TV and radio channels aired the news of his death a week before he actually passed away. Throughout this period, the atmosphere of the LPC remained tense and gloomy, as everyone missed Roman’s company and prayed in vain for his health. In a way, the announcement of Roman’s death took his fellow journalists out of a state of shock, but only briefly!
By: Mustafa Nazir Ahmad
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