Ansar Abbasi
Encyclopedia
Ansar Abbasi al_Hashmi is an investigative editor for one of the leading newspapers from Pakistan
, The News International
.
and did his early education in his native village. Abbasi did his matriculation at Sir Syed School Rawalpindi. He then joined Government College Asghar Mall from where he completed his Intermediate and later graduated with a ‘Bachelors in Arts’ degree from the same college. He did his Masters at Balochistan University, Quetta
. He later earned another Masters degree from Goldsmiths College
, University of London
. His research thesis was on child labor
.
, before eventually joining The News International
, of which he is now an editor
.
undermining all merits. Primarily based on this allegation the establishment moved a reference to Supreme Judicial Council against Chief Justice Iftikhar Choudhry.
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 Muhammad Choudhry and submitting his case to the Supreme Judicial Council.
, Maulana Fazl ur Rehman. Abbasi alleged that the 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. The issue was silenced when Maulana Fazl ur Rahman publicly questioned how the multi-billion empire of Geo/Jang Group
grew from a single room.
Umer Cheema, an investigative reporter, was abducted and tortured for six hours by a group of unidentified men. During his abduction, Cheema was warned to stop reporting against the government. The reporter also claimed one of the abductors saying if the criticisms against the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party kept going, Ansar Abbasi would be targeted next. However, it is widely thought that Umer Cheema abduction is done by military agencies as his main focus was criticizing the army.
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, The News International
The News International
The News International , published in tabloid size, is the largest English language newspaper in Pakistan. The News has an ABC certified circulation of 140,000. It is published from Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi/Islamabad...
.
Early life and education
Abbasi was born in MurreeMurree
Murree city is a popular hill station and a summer resort, especially for the residents of Rawalpindi/Islamabad, and for the cities of the province of Punjab, Pakistan...
and did his early education in his native village. Abbasi did his matriculation at Sir Syed School Rawalpindi. He then joined Government College Asghar Mall from where he completed his Intermediate and later graduated with a ‘Bachelors in Arts’ degree from the same college. He did his Masters at Balochistan University, Quetta
Quetta
is the largest city and the provincial capital of the Balochistan Province of Pakistan. Known as the "Fruit Garden of Pakistan" due to the diversity of its plant and animal wildlife, Quetta is home to the Hazarganji Chiltan National Park, which contains some of the rarest species of wildlife in the...
. He later earned another Masters degree from Goldsmiths College
Goldsmiths College
Goldsmiths, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom which specialises in the arts, humanities and social sciences, and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1891 as Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute...
, University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
. His research thesis was on child labor
Child labor
Child labour refers to the employment of children at regular and sustained labour. This practice is considered exploitative by many international organizations and is illegal in many countries...
.
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 language daily, The Democrat. Later, he worked for two months at Pakistan TimesPakistan Times
Pakistan Times is an independent online daily newspaper. It is published from Islamabad.-External links:**...
, before eventually joining The News International
The News International
The News International , published in tabloid size, is the largest English language newspaper in Pakistan. The News has an ABC certified circulation of 140,000. It is published from Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi/Islamabad...
, of which he is now an editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
.
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 the Federal Investigation AgencyFederal Investigation Agency
The Federal Investigation Agency is an agency of Pakistan, under the Ministry of Interior, that serves as a federal criminal investigative body with one of the Directorate dealing as Pakistani body of Interpol. It has a wide role in anti-terrorism, anti-fascism, anti-corruption, human smuggling...
undermining all merits. Primarily based on this allegation the establishment moved a reference to Supreme Judicial Council against Chief Justice Iftikhar Choudhry.
Pervez Musharraf
Abbasi has published work critical of the regime of former President Pervez MusharrafPervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...
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 Muhammad 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 Jamiat Ulema-e-IslamJamiat Ulema-e-Islam
The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam is a political party in Pakistan. It formed a combined government in national elections in 2002 and 2008...
, Maulana Fazl ur Rehman. Abbasi alleged that the 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. The issue was silenced when Maulana Fazl ur Rahman publicly questioned how the multi-billion empire of Geo/Jang Group
Jang Group of Newspapers
Jang Group of Newspapers is a subsidiary of the Independent Media Corporation. It has its headquartered in Printing House, Karachi...
grew from a single room.
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's examination paper for F.Sc. were reassessed in violation of a previous Supreme Court ruling. While the results of 201 candidates were revised, only for her 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 death threats for which he blamed different groups, including those associated with the ruling coalition. His claims first appeared in The News on December 25, 2008.Umer Cheema, an investigative reporter, was abducted and tortured for six hours by a group of unidentified men. During his abduction, Cheema was warned to stop reporting against the government. The reporter also claimed one of the abductors saying if the criticisms against the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party kept going, Ansar Abbasi would be targeted next. However, it is widely thought that Umer Cheema abduction is done by military agencies as his main focus was criticizing the army.
Religious Views
Ansar Abbasi has always been vocal about the central role of Religion in his life and career. Ansar Abbasi claims to be a pious Muslim and has been seen to have deep rooted conservative views. Such views were made controversially public during 2009 when a video of a the Flogging of a Swat Girl was released . During this episode, Abbasi caused himself much embarrassment by revealing his ignorance of Quran when he wrongly attributed "stoning-to-death" to Quran in his column "Aaj ke Abu-Jahal" in the Daily Jang . He has publicly voiced Anti-Western 'standards' and morals, and calls for Pakistan to go back to the ways of Islam during the life of Prophet Muhammed (SAW) . During the Swat Girl incident Ansar Abbasi stated that he did not find anything to be wrong with the idea of flogging even on a girl, and that is was appropriate punishment, and only due to the westernisation of Pakistan are people voicing complaints against it, what he calls "Liberl Facists" . In the Swat girl flogging episode he termed Taliban leader Molvi Fazalullah and others as his brothers which generated much controversy as the Taliban leader has claimed bombing many schools, hospitals and killing oridanry women and citizens.See also
- List of Pakistani journalists
- Pakistan Federal Union of JournalistsPakistan Federal Union of JournalistsThe Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists often referred to as The PFUJ is the first journalistic association of South Asia, representing journalists of an entire country; Pakistan...
- Ansar Abbasi Urdu Columns in Jang Newspaper
- Ansar Abbasi Investigative Reports in Jang and TheNews