Talk:Ansar Abbasi

Ansar Abbasi (انصار عباسی)
Born	(1965-06-12) June 12, 1965
Education	Masters in Journalism and Broadcasting
Occupation	Journalist
Notable credit	Editor The News International
Family	Abbasi

Ansar Abbasi (Urdu: انصار عباسی) is an investigative editor for one of the leading newspapers from Pakistan, The News International.

Early life and education

Abbasi was born in Murree and did his early education from his native village. Abbasi did his matriculation from Sir Syed School Rawalpindi. He then joined Government College Asghar Mall from where he did his Intermediate and later graduated with a ‘Bachelors in Arts’ degree from the same college. He did his Masters from Balochistan University, Quetta. He later earned another Masters degree from Goldsmiths College, University of London. His research thesis was on the child labor.

Career in journalism

After Masters in Mass Communication, Abbasi started his career as a professional journalist in 1991. His first stint was with an English Daily, The Democrat. Later, he served for two months at Pakistan Times, before eventually joining The News International, of which he is now an editor.

Investigative articles

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry

Ansar Abbasi was among the first to bring forth allegations against Chief Justice Iftikhar Choudhray for gross misconduct in 2002, accusing him for admitting his Son Dr. Arsalan to FIA undermining all merits.

Pervez Musharraf

Abbasi has published work critical of the regime of former President Pervez Musharraf accusing him of building a multi-million rupee residence at Chak Shehzad, equipped with utilities at much cheaper rates with differential subsidized by the government.

He was critical of the former general for removing the Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mushammad Choudhry and submitting his case to the Supreme Judicial Council.

Maulana Fazl ur Rehman

In November 2008, Abbasi published a story on the award of acres of military land worth millions of rupees to the family members of the leader of JUI Maulana Fazl ur Rehman. Abbasi alleged that the dictatorial regime of the then president General Pervez Musharraf attempted to buy off Maulana's opposition to the General's assumption of two public offices at a time.

Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar

"Our Special Daughters" an investigative report by Ansar Abbasi in Daily News found out that Justice Dogar's daughter Farah Hameed Dogar examination paper for F.Sc were reassessed in violation of previous Supreme Court ruling , while the results of 201 candidates were revised only for Farah were the examination papers re-marked and the numbers increased. In the other 200 cases, only errors in adding the total marks were corrected. The case later went on to the parliamentary committee for education.

Life threats

Abbasi is alleged to have received life threats for which he blamed different quarters, including those associated with the ruling coalition. His claims first appeared in The News in Dec. 25, 2008. However, there has not been a single attempt on his life.

In December, 2009, Abbasi received a number of threatening text messages, which were traced by authorities to the son of Fouzia Wahab, a PPP MNA.

Taliban sympathizer

Abbasi is one of the journalists with known sympathies for the hardline militants based in Pakistan. In September 2008, following the suicide bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, he suggested in one of his articles that a team of US marines was the target of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, in an attempt to justify the attack. Earlier, during the regime of Military dictator, Pervez Musharraf, he had voiced against the operation against the terrorists holed up in the Lal Masjid in the heart of the federal capital, Islamabad. He was subsequently accused of exaggerating the number of terrorists killed in the neutralization operation. He openly opposed the Army Operation in Swat to track down the culprits, who were involved in the brutal killings on the notorious Bloody Square in Swat. His distractors allege that most of his recent articles against the present government are motivated by government's refusal to stop the military operations in the North West Frontier Province.

Defending the public flogging

In April, 2009, Abbasi blasted his colleagues and other TV anchors in a TV program on their criticism of brutal public flogging of a teenage girl in Swat by the extremist militants. He quickly justified the public flogging and called the critics a bunch of ignorants. The incident, itself, became a turning point in the government's efforts to bring peace in the Swat region, where militants had openly threatened the writ of the government. The provincial government had earlier struck a controversial deal with the militants belonging to the Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Muhammadi, providing them means to lay down arms. The incident resulted in a huge backlash from the public and the media , and prompted condemnation by the Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court. In the aftermath, the deal eventually broke down, and resulted in a military operation against the militants.

Opinion on hijab

Abbasi is a strong advocate of a rigid interpretation of the religion, where forcing women to cover their faces in public places is considered compulsory. His articles had ridiculed the stance of the French government on the issue. He forces his wife to wear a full body burqua.

See also

• List of Pakistani journalists
• Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists

Reverted edits

I have reverted several edits by IP users adding in itself damaging information referenced by YouTube clips of Urdu television news shows. I'm open to discussing this. __meco (talk) 10:52, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Why do you think it is damaging? Don't hide behind excuse of Urdu language. And if this guy shows up in a Urdu TV show and says something, why do you think it is damaging? This is what this guy stand for. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Peterhenych (talk • contribs) 08:09, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

Who wrote this article? Too much story telling, presumptive statements, grammatical errors. It's total crap. Please have a crash course on the English language before editing it. Peterhenych (talk) 05:54, 21 March 2010 (UTC)

Given that your own English grammar and usage is far from perfect I think you should refrain from commenting negatively on other editor's English, and especially on their rights to contribute. Instead focus on providding better sources to back up your claims and on writing in a more neutral tone.·Maunus·ƛ· 11:54, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

Syed Mumtaz Alam Gillani

Following the Marriott Hotel bombing there was some animosity and recriminations leveled between Abbasi and the later appointed minister for human rights, Syed Mumtaz Alam Gillani. I thought this was included in this article? Has it been removed? In any case, it should be presented, surely? __meco (talk) 14:36, 4 April 2010 (UTC)

Meco's Half Truths

Do you have some agenda? Quit arrogantly removing the details, which has reference to his own articles. What are you trying to hide? This is what this guy openly stand for. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Peterhenych (talk • contribs) 08:06, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

Reverted edits - PPP campaign against Abbasi?

I have reverted recent edits by Peterhenych. The added text was in my view tendentious and insufficiently sourced, as well as presented in a tabloid style irreconcilable with encyclopedic material. One PPP person claiming him being a Taliban supporter does not justify the section header "Taliban sympathizer". Also, using weasel-worded claims such as "one of the journalists with known sympathies for the hardline militants..." is quite inappropriate when these allegations are leveled from a single partisan voice. It is hard not to contemplate the possibility that this is payback from friends of Syed Mumtaz Alam Gillani following the confrontation between him and Abbasi in September 2008, as documented in detail in Gillani's Wikipedia article.

Also in the now removed text was this assertion: "In September 2008, following the suicide bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, he suggested in one of his articles that a team of US marines was the target of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, in an attempt to justify the attack." This is pure slander. The last phrase, "in an attempt to justify the attack" attempts to probe the mind of Abbasi in order to attribute to him sinister motivations. Another example of blatant tabloid style is "He openly opposed the Army Operation in Swat to track down the culprits, who were involved in the brutal killings on the notorious Bloody Square in Swat." This is ripe with odious expletives more in accord with tabloid reporting than an encyclopedic article.

If any of the now removed information should be included in the article a thorough rewrite is required. __meco (talk) 08:28, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

Editwar and BLP violations

I have reverted to Meco's version and protected the page completely for two weeks. I agree with Meco that the material inserted by Peterhenych is poorly sourced and not includeable unless much better sources are found. It is also poorly written and has a clear POV. All of this needs to be taken care of before the content can be included in accordance with the biography ofliving persons policy. I suggest that discussion is undertaken here about how the article can best refer to the political and religious views of Abbasi in a balanced way supported by reliable sources. Further editwarring will not be tolerated and will lead to blocks for both parties.·Maunus·ƛ· 11:51, 5 April 2010 (UTC)