Mazhar Abbas

Mazhar Abbas is a Pakistani journalist. He was the deputy director of ARY News Television, the bilingual news channel in Pakistan, and the secretary general of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists. He is the brother of former Director General Inter-Services Public Relations Major General (retired) Athar Abbas of Pakistan Armed Forces.

Early life

Mazhar Abbas attends the University of Karachi and studied journalism. In university, Abbas learns about the democratic principles of journalism and this has highly driven his approach to reporting and collecting the news. Abbas wants to give each citizen in Pakistan the right to speak on social and human rights issues, regardless of what the military and government are doing. Because of this, Abbas has covered many controversial cases over the years.

In his early career, he covers the kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl, Wall Street Journal Bureau Chief, in 2002. This kickstarted his career as he makes a name for himself as a dedicated journalist who was willing to explore the depths of a case.

Career

Mazhar Abbas, who has worked as a journalist for nearly thirty years, has received multiple threats as a result of his work. After protesting the closing of three independent TV channels for their reporting on demonstrations against President Musharraf, Abbas was charged by police in early 2007. In May 2007, he and two other journalists found white envelopes containing bullets placed on their cars.

In 2017, Abbas regularly writes news stories and appears in the following Pakistani media:

• The Express Tribune (newspaper)
• Dawn (newspaper)
• The Friday Times (newspaper)
• The News International (newspaper)
• Geo News (TV channel)
• Dunya News (TV channel)
• ARY News
• Agence France-Presse (AFP-French news agency) - Abbas worked for the agency as Bureau Chief in Karachi for six years.

Abbas is also the deputy director of the ARY News Television network. Through this network, he focuses on providing commentary on the country’s most powerful and controversial military and government figures. He also uses his television network to provide monetary support to journalists who are working in extremely hard conditions as they try to report on the truth of what is happening in highly dangerous or impacted areas.

Abbas receives the CPJ International Press Freedom Award in 2007. He later wins the Missouri Honour Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism in 2009.

Family

He is the son of the late Abid Abbas, former secretary of the Hyderabad Board of Education. Mazhar has four brothers, Brig Athar Abbas, Zafar Abbas, Anwer Abbas, and Ahzar Abbas. He is the brother of former Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations Major General (retired) Athar Abbas of Pakistan Armed Forces and Pakistan’s current Ambassador to Ukraine.

Political Views

Abbas has always been an activist for free press and democracy within Pakistan, garnering himself conflict from the government throughout his career. As a member of the Karachi press club, whose members regularly perform demonstrations against the government in the name of human and civil rights, he ended up on a hit list of the Mohajir Rabita Council, an ethnic political group in Pakistan's southern province of Sindh, which is allied with former President Pervez Musharraf. He updates his Twitter account daily, discussing current events and calling for action within the Pakistani government.

Personal life

Abbas lost his father, renowned Educationist Mirza Abid Abbas to illness in 2002, the same year he covered the Daniel Pearl trial. In 2008, Abbas’ brother, Athar Abbas became the Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations. He served until 2012 and has been Pakistan’s Ambassador to Ukraine since 2015. His other brothers include Azhar Abbas Geo News (TV Network) Managing Director, Zaffar Abbas, Editor of Dawn (newspaper). Abbas also has two daughters.