Incidentally, it was the detention of his father by the political authorities in 1992 that prompted the young man to become a journalist and expose excesses and injustices.
He started working for newspapers soon after doing his first term in MSc Economics from the Government Degree College in Bannu in 1998. He courted problems with the authorities and was externed from the tribal region for two months in 2002.
Earlier in 2001, he had a brush with US forces when he was arrested in the south-eastern Paktika area of Afghanistan by US forces mistaking him for a secretary to the Taliban supreme leader Mullah Muhammad Omar.
Hayatullah's tragic death caused shock and grief in the journalists fraternity in Peshawar. A statement by the Khyber Union of Journalists strongly condemned the killing and accused the government of failing to provide protection to journalists, particularly those working in tribal regions.
It demanded immediate arrest of elements responsible for his killing and announced it would hold a protest rally in Peshawar on Saturday.
The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists and the All Pakistan Newspaper Employees Confederation also condemned the murder. The two organisations of newspaper employees said in a joint statement that they would observe a 'black day' on Monday when protest demonstrations would be held and journalists would boycott assembly sessions.
The statement appealed to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to take suo moto notice of the kidnapping and murder of Hayatullah Khan and appoint a judicial inquiry commission.
This was reported by a newspaper.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
