Najam Sethi is a Pakistani journalist and businessman who serves as Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board. He is the founder of The Friday Times and Pioneer Books.
Wiki/Biography
Najam Aziz Sethi was born on Thursday, May 20, 1948, in Kasur, Punjab, Pakistan (age 74; as of 2022). His zodiac sign is Taurus. He attended St Anthony’s High School, Lahore. He holds an MA in Economics from Cambridge University and a PhD from Government College University, Lahore.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′8″
Hair color: semi-bald (grey)
Eye color: black
family
Parents and siblings
Najam’s father’s name is Abdul Aziz Seti.
wife and children
In 1983, Najam married Pakistani journalist Jugnu Mohsin.
Najam Sethi and his wife
They have two children, a son Ali Sethi who is a singer and a daughter Mira Sethi who is an actress.
Najam al-Sisi’s children
sign
Najam Sethi’s signature
Journalism
Najam founded his own publishing company, Vanguard Books, in 1978. In 1989, he co-founded the English-language weekly The Friday Times with his wife. He started an independent newspaper because he was saddened that no newspaper reported his arrest on copyright charges in 1984. Because Najam was considered a criminal by the government, the newspaper’s license was in his wife’s name. They obtained their license in 1987, and his wife worked at the agency with him. Founded in 1989. In 2002, he founded the Daily Times of Pakistan and served as editor until 2009. From 1990 to 2008, he served as the Pakistan correspondent for The Economist. In 2014, he hosted Geo News’ primetime current affairs program “Aapas ki Baat”.
Najam Sethi on show ‘Aapas ki Baat’
Until 2018, he served as President of AAP Media Media Network/Indus News.
politics
In the 2013 general election, he was elected as the caretaker Chief Minister (CM) of Punjab by the PPP (Pakistan People’s Party) and the opposition party PML-N (Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz). He resigned two months later when Shehbaz Sharif was appointed as the new chief minister.
cricket
In 2013, he was appointed interim chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on an order of the Islamabad High Court. In 2015, his name was shortlisted for the position of President of the International Chamber of Commerce. On December 21, 2022, he was elected as the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board by Prime Minister Sherbaz Sharif. A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office read,
The Prime Minister has seen and is pleased to approve the proposal in paragraph 7 of the summary, which provides that the list of Governing Council will be submitted to the Federal Cabinet. “
dispute
Arrested during protests
In 1975, Najam caused controversy for his active participation in the socialist movement in Balochistan. In 1973, he returned to Pakistan from London, leaving behind his studies to support the Baloch nationalist side. The struggle in Balochistan began in 1971 when the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) accused the National People’s Party of staging a separatist movement in Balochistan and dismissed it for taking power in the centre. The Baloch people started a war with the Pakistani army, in which Najam participated and was arrested.
Arrested for sedition
Najam was arrested in 1999 under the government of Nawaz Sharif, sparking much controversy and attracting international attention. According to multiple reports, he plans to appear on the BBC television program The Correspondent to talk about corruption in the country. In May 1999, many of his sources told him that the government was planning to arrest him because they believed his interview with the BBC would destabilize the government. After his arrest in May, he was forcibly taken to jail by eight Punjab police officers who entered their home and assaulted the security guard, his wife said. When she asked them for a warrant, they threatened to kill Najam on the spot. They even locked her in another room and took away Najam. He was held for a month, but no charges were brought against him. He is being held in a detention center in Lahore and no one can visit him. A month after his arrest, when the government began to come under international criticism, they detained him on June 1 on charges of “condemning the founding of the state, advocating the abolition of sovereignty” and “inciting hostility between different groups.” . Amnesty International came out to support him and claimed he had been arrested for giving an interview to the BBC. The Committee to Protect Journalists in the United States sent a letter to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif saying Najam should appear in court as soon as possible. World Bank President James Wolfensohn asked Nawaz Sharif to release Najam. However, after the hearing, he was released by the Supreme Court of Pakistan due to less evidence.
Tug a boat with Tehmina Durrani
In 1999, Najam sparked controversy when Tehmina Durrani accused her of mental torture and stealing all the proceeds from a book she wrote. In June 1991, Termina wrote the book “My Lord”, which was published by Pioneer Books. The book is based on her painful marriage to Pakistani politician Mustafa Khar. It was popular and well-earned, and Durrani later signed a contract with Najam’s wife, Mohsin, and gave her 50 percent of the foreign royalties. But in 1999, when Durrani was unable to contact Najam because he was in jail, she held a press conference and accused him of fraud. After Najam was released from prison, he accused her of defamation.
Awards, Honors, Achievements
- 1999: International Press Freedom Award from the U.S. Committee to Protect Journalists
- 2009: World Association of Newspapers Free Golden Pen Award
- 2011: Hilal-i-Imtiaz Award from the President of Pakistan
Facts/Trivia
- In 2008, he received death threats for publishing an editorial about religious fundamentalism, and therefore lived under high security. Later in 2008, he published an editorial depicting Umme Hassaan, the principal of an all-girls school, telling young girls to kidnap Chinese women. He received death threats for the editorial as it was compared to the incident at Lal Mosque, where her husband Abdul Aziz Ghazi, a cleric, was charged with kidnapping six people Chinese women were arrested on charges of prostitution.
- He wanted Pakistani players to play in other cricket tournaments, not just the Pakistan Super League. He said in an interview that the PCB hopes that Indian players will be allowed to participate in the PSL and Pakistani players will be allowed to participate in the IPL. In the interview, he further added,
We will try to convince the Indians to play us in December. If that happens, we will also discuss a reciprocal arrangement – which I have already held preliminary talks with people in Delhi – to allow Pakistani players to play in the IPL while Indian players are allowed to play in the PSL. “
- In 2017, he claimed that he was manhandled by a group of PTI supporters during the ICC Champions Trophy final match between India and Pakistan.
- During the 2018 Pakistani general election, when Imran Khan became Prime Minister of Pakistan, Najam proposed to resign as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board. He shared his resignation on Twitter and wrote:
I am waiting for the swearing-in of the new Prime Minister before tendering my resignation as PCB Chairman, which I have done today. I wish PCB all the best and hope our cricket team continues to grow from strength to strength. Eid Mubarak. Zindabad, Pakistan. “
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education