Today the world has lost not only a brave journalist, but without doubt one of the most courteous people to have graced the Pakistani media industry. Wali Khan Babar was an extremely well informed young journalist and was ever ready to share his knowledge and help those who were new to the media industry.

His sheer determination and will to bring every possible story to the fore served as an inspiration for other journalists around him. Wali’s friendly demeanour was almost infectious and he could often be seen cracking a friendly joke with his colleagues. All those who worked around him remember this affable young man with fond memories.

On Facebook, the status updates of many of his friends pay tribute to this fine reporter. “Today we have lost a gentle soul, a competent reporter, a loyal friend and a lovely human being. I am sure you have your reasons GOD, but this will take some time for me to understand. Deeply sad on this loss,” reads the status of one of his former colleagues.

Never afraid to speak his mind or highlight injustices to the poor people of this country, many believe that Wali’s bravery is what cost him his life. There was never a moment that this courageous reporter would sit idle.

Pakistan has become an increasingly dangerous place for journalists and Wali’s death has highlighted this fact. What puzzles many is why a journalist whose main ambition in life was to highlight problems being faced by the common man was murdered in this most brutal fashion. Those who worked around him say that he had no form of animosity towards anyone.

Although there were not able to pinpoint the exact reason for his death, a number of his seniors at Geo believe that Wali was killed as a result of his journalistic work. In recent times, he had been covering a number of critical issues, his last being a report on a crackdown on criminals in Gulistan-i-Jauhar.