Ansar Abbasi
 |
Ansar Abbasi (انصار عباسی) | |
|---|---|
| Born | 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.[1] 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.[2]
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. [3]
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.[4]
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.[5]
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 [6], 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.[7] The case later went on to the parliamentary committee for education.[8]
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. He openly opposed the Army Operation in Swat to track down the culprits that were involved in brutal killings on the notorious Bloody Square in Swat. [9] 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.[10][11] The incident 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 [12], and prompted condemnation by the Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court.[13] In the aftermath, the deal eventually broke down, and resulted in a military operation against the militants.
See also
References
- ^ http://www.pakistanileaders.com.pk/profile/Ansar_Abbasi
- ^ http://pakistaniat.com/2007/03/13/pakistan-wasi-zafar-voice-america-interview-news-ansar-abassi-law-minister-supreme-court/
- ^ http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=22302
- ^ http://pkpolitics.com/2008/11/12/capital-talk-12-november-2008/
- ^ http://www.deraywal.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=82:mulana-fazl-ur-rehmans-corruption-exposed&catid=48:urdu-article&Itemid=61
- ^ http://thenews.jang.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=18574
- ^ http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=18598
- ^ http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/farah-dogar-case-fbise-employees-to-face-the-music-779
- ^ http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/04/ansar-abbasi-swat-flogging-news.html
- ^ http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/editorial/swat-flogging-public-outrage
- ^ http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/04/ansar-abbasi-swat-flogging-news.html
- ^ http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/govt-condemns-sc-acts-on-swat-girl-flogging--zj
- ^ http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/girls-flogging-not-true-picture-of-islam,-says-lhc-judge