Mazhar Abbas

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.