‘I am a knight’: Pakistan-origin newspaper vendor gets top French award

PARIS: Ali Akbar has been homeless, experienced extreme poverty and had been attacked.

On Wednesday, President Emmanuel Macron made Pakistan-born Akbar, believed to be the last newspaper hawker in Paris, a knight in the national order of merit in recognition of his service to France.

The French president praised Akbar’s “incredible destiny”, thanking the septuagenarian for arriving from Pakistan decades ago, selling newspapers for 50 years and carrying France in his heart.

“Dear Ali, thank you for bringing political news to our terraces at the top of your lungs, for warming the hearts of the Flore, the Deux Magots, the Lipp brasserie,” Macron said in his speech at the Elysee Palace, referring to some of the French capital’s iconic cafes.

“You are the accent of the 6th arrondissement. The voice of the French press,” Macron told Akbar, who was surrounded by his family.

Akbar, who is known for inventing sensational headlines, sells his wares round the upmarket streets of Saint-German-des-Pres where he has become a neighbourhood legend.

French has “become your language”, Macron told the slim, sharply dressed man. “You have learned to play with it, making it your own.”

“You have carried, if I may say so, the world in your arms and France in your heart,” Macron added.

He praised Akbar as an example of integration which “makes our country stronger and prouder.”

“He is a magnificent example at a time when we so often hear bad news,” Macron said.

“There are also many stories like Ali’s, of women and men who fled poverty to choose a country of freedom.”

Akbar said he was “deeply moved” and already knew what he would shout on the streets of Paris in the coming days.

“That’s it, I’m a knight! I’ve made it!” he said at the Elysee.

Akbar arrived in France, hoping to escape poverty and send back money to his family in Pakistan. He worked as a sailor then a dishwasher in a restaurant in the northern city of Rouen.

Akbar said last year he could not believe Macron wanted to give him France’s top honour.

“We often crossed paths when he was a student,” he said at the time.

Akbar, who receives a pension of 1,000 euros ($1,175) a month, still works each day.

On average, he sells about 30 newspapers every day, compared to between 150 and 200 when he started.

He says he has no plans to give up “entertaining people with my jokes” any time soon.

“I’m going to continue selling newspapers,” he said.