Post by pakedu on Nov 4, 2011 18:49:19 GMT 5
Born: 23 July 1966
Profession: Tv Anchor, Journalist
Affiliation(s): GEO Tv network
Citizenship: Pakistani
Hamid Mir (born July 23, 1966) is a Pakistani journalist and editor.
Education
Mir was born and educated in Lahore. He attended University Laboratory School New Campus and Government Central Model School, where he completed his Matric examination. He earned his intermediate degree from Government Science College and his B.A. degree from Government College. He earned his master's degree in mass communications from the University of Punjab in 1989. He played cricket but left the sport after the sudden death of his father.
Family
Mir belongs to a literary and journalistic family.
Mir Abdul Aziz
His grandfather Mir Abdul Aziz was a famous poet in Urdu, Persian, and Punjabi in Sialkot who actively participated in the movement for the creation of Pakistan under the leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
Professor Waris Mir
Mir's father, the late Professor Waris Mir, was a columnist for Daily Jang and a critic of military dictator General Ziaul Haq, for which he was removed from the chairmanship of the Mass Communication Department of the University in the 1980s.Professor Waris Mir died on July 9, 1987 in mysterious circumstances at the age of 48; it has been alleged that he was poisoned by the then military regime. Mir joined journalism immediately after the death of his father at a very young age.
Amir Mir and Imran Mir
Two brothers of Mir are also journalists. Amir Mir works for The News International and Imran Mir works for Pakistan Television. A third brother, Faisal Mir, is an industrialist. Hamid Mir's wife worked with Pakistan television and for a private television channel for many years. Hamid Mir has two children, Arafat Mir and Ayesha Mir. His children and wife were forced to spend at least three months outside Pakistan from May 2007 to July 2007 for security reasons.
Career
Mir joined journalism immediately after the death of his father at a very young age.He is news anchor, terrorism expert, and security analyst who regularly participates in international conferences.He is also known for his columns in Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, and English newspapers.
Daily Jang
Mir joined the Daily Jang (Lahore) in 1987 and worked there as sub-editor, reporter, feature writer and edition in charge. In 1994, he broke the submarines purchase scandal in Daily Jang. Some close friends of Asif Zardari (husband of then Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto) were involved in that scandal, along with some Navy officials. Mir lost his job the day his article was published.
Daily Pakistan
In 1996, Mir became the editor of the Daily Pakistan in Islamabad, making him the youngest editor of any national Urdu newspaper in the history of Pakistani journalism.He lost his job again in 1997, when he wrote an article in the Daily Pakistan about the alleged corruption of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Daily Ausaf
On December 25, 1997, he launched Daily Ausaf (Islamabad) as founding editor.
GEO Tv network
In 2002, Mir joined GEO TV as the Northern Region editor. Since November 2002, he has hosted GEO TV's Capital Talk, a political talk show in which top Pakistani politicians from the government and opposition have appeared. He is currently writing a biography of Osama bin Ladin, as well as a weekly column in Daily Jang.
Hamid Mir and Capital Talk
He is hosts a popular political talk show on Geo TV with the name of Capital Talk. He was banned from TV by the military regime of General Pervez Musharraf in 2007. He was again banned by the Zardari-led PPP government in June 2008
In Afghanistan with Osama bin Ladin
He spent ten days in eastern Afghanistan, where he investigated the escape of Osama bin Ladin from Tora Bora mountains in December 2001.Mir visited the caves of bin Ladin, where he spent time during the US bombing. Mir also disclosed that it was US-backed Northern Alliance leader Hazrat Ali who provided safe passage to bin Ladin after getting a huge bribe.
International figures interviewed
Other international figures interviewed by him include Condoleezza Rice, Tony Blair and L K Advani.
Arrested by Hezbullah
Mir was arrested by Hezbullah in Beirut during Israel-Lebanon war in July 2006 while trying to cover the scenes of Israeli jets bombing on Beirut, but was later set free after Hezbullah was assured that he was not an Israeli spy.
Hamid attacked by police
On March 16, 2007, during live coverage of the lawyers' protest against the suspension of the then Chief Justice of Supreme Court Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Mir was attacked by police at his Islamabad office. Later the then President, Pervez Musharraf apologized to Mir in his live TV show Capital Talk within few hours of the attack.
Hamid Mir banned by Musharraf
Mir was banned by General Pervez Musharraf in November 2007 for four months on Geo News network. Mir came on roads after the ban and organized street shows. He became an international figure after staging shows on the roads, gathering huge crowds. The Washington Post published a front-page article on his show on the roads.
Hamid Mir banned by PPP government
He was again banned by the government of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in June 2008 for a few days on Geo News. His investigative documentary on the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto aired on Geo TV on December 23, 2008, and created considerable controversy in Pakistan.
[glow=red,2,300]Voice of peace[/glow]
Mir became a voice of peace and objective journalism during the India-Pakistan tension created after the Mumbai attacks in November 2008.Der Spiegel declared him the most popular journalist in Pakistan.
Hamid Mir and Hakimullah Mehsud
In May 2010 an audio tape of a conversation between Mir and the 2nd in command of Hakimullah Mehsud surfaced. Hamid said ,"This is a concocted tape, They took my voice, sampled it and anufactured this conspiracy against me."
Controversy
During his career he has come into conflict with the authorities and been banned or limited from reporting on several occasions:
In October 2005 he covered the relief work of Kashmiri militants in Pakistan administered Azad Kashmir after an earthquake. His journalistic work established the presence of militants in Kashmir, and the Musharraf regime threatened to ban him from TV.
He opposed so-called peace agreements between Taliban and Army in FATA in 2005 and annoyed powerful generals. He visited Bajour tribal area in January 2006 after a US missile attack in Damadola village. He again proved that the US missiles killed only innocent children and women, not Al Qaeda militants.
He started discussing the role of Pakistani intelligence agencies in his famous talk show in 2006, and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority issued him a show cause notice for committing treason.
[shadow=red,left,300]Awards and work[/shadow]
Interviewed Osama Bin Ladin for the Daily Pakistan in 1997, for the Daily Ausaf in 1998, and for the Daily Dawn in 2001. The latter was the first interview after 9/11 by any journalist, and the BBC and CNN declared it an international scoop. The Monthly Herald announced that interview as the scoop of the year in its annual issue of December 2001.
Earned an All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) award for best columnist (Urdu) for the years 1996,1997,and 1998.
Received the Maharishi Samman Award for Excellence in Journalism announced by Trust for Media Studies, in Jodhpur, India in March, 2005.
Awarded the Fatima Jinnah Gold Medal from the Ministry of Women Development, Government of Pakistan for writing and speaking in support of women's rights, in August 2005.
On Mach 26, 2010, The foundation of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Writers and Literature have nominated Hamid Mir for the SAARC Lifetime Achievement Award 2010.
Political philosophy of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto
Hamid is Author of a book on the political philosophy of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, published in 1990, which is still in print.