Hamid Mir

Hamid Mir حامد مير
Born	(1966-07-23) 23 July 1966 Lahore, Pakistan
Education	Masters in Mass Communication from University of Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
Occupation	Journalist
Notable credit(s)	Became editor of a national daily at the age of 30 Interviewed Osama bin Laden three times Covered wars in the Palestinian Territories, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Chechnya, Bosnia, Azad Kashmir & Sri Lanka
Title	Executive Editor Geo News Islamabad
Children	1 son, 1 daughter

Hamid Mir (Template:Lang-ur, born 23 July 1966) is a Pakistani journalist and editor. He is also a 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 and 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 Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) government in June 2008. He was awarded Pakistan high civil decoration Hilal e Imtiaz by President Zardari under the PPP government

Personal life

Background

Mir was born in Lahore, Punjab. He educated there and completed his Matric examination from University Laboratory School New Campus and Government Central Model School. He received his intermediate degree from Government Science College and his Bachelor of Arts (B.A) degree from Government College. He earned his Master of Arts (M.A) 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. His grandfather Mir Abdul Aziz was a famous Urdu, Persian, and Punjabi language poet from Sialkot who actively participated in the movement for the creation of Pakistan under the leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Mir's father, 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 9 July 1987 under mysterious circumstances at the age of 48; it has been alleged that he was poisoned by the then military regime. It was claimed the cause was a heart attack, contradicted by reports of frothing in his mouth. Mir entered the field of journalism immediately after the death of his father at a very young age.

Mir has three brothers, two are also journalists. Amir Mir works for The News International and Imran Mir works for Pakistan Television, third one, Adil Mir, is an industrialist. Mir's wife worked with Pakistan television and for a private television channel for many years. The couple has two children, son Arafat Mir and daughter 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.

Journalistic career

Mir with the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair

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.

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. Also on 25 December 1997, he launched Daily Ausaf (Islamabad) as founding editor.

Mir 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.

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.

Other international figures interviewed by him include Condoleezza Rice, Tony Blair and L K Advani. 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.

On 16 March 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 apologised to Mir in his live TV show Capital Talk within few hours of the attack. 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 organised 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. 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 23 December 2008, and created considerable controversy in Pakistan.

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.

Mir has participated in many international seminars and conferences on terrorism. He appears regularly on CNN, BBC and many Indian channels as a security analyst. Mir claimed in an interview with independent online news source CanadianFreePress.com—that Al-Qaeda had acquired three so called 'suitcase nukes' from Russia, and had successfully smuggled them to Europe. Mir alleges these weapons have been in the possession of Al-Qaeda since long before the 9/11 terror attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., and that they were originally intended to be targeted against London, Paris and Los Angeles.

Mir also claims that Al-Qaeda has 23 sleeper agents inside the United States (minus the 19 who died carrying out the 9/11 attacks) and that these terrorists already have enough radioactive material for six 'dirty bombs'.

In May 2010, an audio tape of a conversation between Mir and one Usman Punjabi who was allegedly the 2nd in command of Hakimullah Mehsud surfaced. In the tape they discussed then-kidnapped Khalid Khawaja with Mir urging that he be further interrogated by his Taliban-linked captors. Khawaja was killed in April 2010 by his captors. Rashed Rahman, editor of the English-language Daily Times newspaper said "If this tape turns out to be genuine, it suggests a journalist instigated the murder of a kidnapee. A line must be drawn somewhere.". Mir has denied the authenticity of the tape "I never said these things to these people. This is a concocted tape, [..] They took my voice, sampled it and manufactured this conspiracy against me." Nothing was proved against Mir in any court. Later on Usman Punjabi was killed by Taliban. In many circles Mir is considered a rightist. In one of his articles he has claimed that Pakistan was built on the extreme love of Prophet Mohammad, and that distinguished Pakistani leaders M A Jinnah and poet Iqbal supported the people who killed others for the perception of blasphemy.

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.
• Mir opposed so-called peace agreements between Taliban and Army in FATA in 2005 and annoyed powerful generals. Then Pakistan Army spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan declared Mir a traitor on state-controlled Pakistan television in 2005.
• Mir 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.
• Mir 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.
• Musharraf declared Hamid Mir a Taliban sympathiser after the emergency rule of 2007 and banned him from Geo TV for more than four months. In an interview with Monthly Newsline Karachi (December 2008 issue), Mir explained his differences with Musharraf. He claimed that actually he exposed the double games of secret agency ISI playing in the Red Mosque of Islamabad in a face to face meeting with the President. Mir presented some evidence that ISI was helping some militants who were creating law and order situation in the Capital. ISI turned against Mir after that meeting and propagated that Mir is a media face of Taliban. In fact Mir received threats from some militant groups when wrote investigative stories on Taliban.

Notable papers, awards and work

• Awarded Hilal-e-Imtiaz on 14 August 2012 for his services in Journalism by the PPP government under President Zardai.

Hamid Mir secretly interviewing al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in Kabul on 8 November 2001, the day they escaped the city.

• 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.
• Interviewed Osama Bin Laden 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.
• Author of a book on the political philosophy of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, published in 1990, which is still in print.
• On 26 March 2010, The foundation of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Writers and Literature have nominated Mir for the SAARC Lifetime Achievement Award 2010.
• In December 2011, Hamid Mir received Several Death Threats after he hosted a TV show on Influence of ISI in Pakistan Politics.
• Hamid Mir was declared most popular current affairs TV anchor in March 2012 http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-100146-Geo-wins-Peoples-Choice-category-award

Views on Hamas

In 2009, Mir compared the Hamas and the Taliban. According to Mir, "Hamas probably have more suicide bombers than Taliban, but they are different from each other". In an article titled "Hamas builds while Taliban bomb schools", Mir wrote that both Hamas and Taliban were born in refugee camps, and both were initially encouraged by the west. Mir pointed out that some of the Hamas leaders were educated in Pakistani universities, and that many of them were part of the Afghan Jihad against the former Soviet Union, and close to Dr. Abdullah Azzam who was also a mentor of Osama bin Ladin in early 80's.

At the same time, Mir states that the Hamas leaders don't want to mix their identity with Taliban or al-Qaeda, and "oppose all those who are bombing girl schools". Mir states that unlike the Taliban, Hamas never attacked girl's schools even once in last 22 years of its creation. The biggest difference between Taliban and Hamas, according to Mir, is that Hamas believe in democracy, while Taliban have no faith in democracy.

Criticism

Mir has been repeatedly accused of being pro-Taliban, while some known pro-Taliban personalities accuse him of being a CIA agent.

According to some analysts, Mir always propagated the agenda of Western forces. Zaid Hamid, founder of Brass Tacks, called him a CIA agent on an ABN Chicago Radio talk show.

Mir has publicly stated that certain people in Pakistan have claimed that he is an Indian Agent. He commented about the response of people on one of his programs in which he invited a peace activist Dr.Pervez Hoodhbhoy: “There was an outcry next day in sections of Pakistan’s Urdu press that two Indian agents were sitting on Geo TV,”

Former FBI official, Paul Williams, accused Mir of being dishonest: "He has back-pedaled on statements before. This guy is capable of mendacity" Williams is currently being sued by McMaster University for upwards of $2-Million, as a result of his claims that Islamic terrorists managed to steal 180 lbs of unspecified nuclear material from the McMaster Nuclear Reactor. The University has extracted an apology from the publisher of Dunces of Doomsday, WND Books/Cumberland House Publishing, who now say that statements made in Williams' book about the theft are "without basis in fact."

Some people say that he is too hard on the US. Recently he treated Pakistani Information Minister very roughly in his show on the US drone attacks.

He visited United States in April 2009 to deliver special lectures and talks in universities and think tanks. During this visit, he criticised the US policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He proposed some long- and short-term solutions for combating terrorism in Asia Society, New York.

The US Ambassador in Pakistan wrote a letter to the Geo TV management in September 2009 complaining about Mir.

Anti Establishment Views

Hamid Mir is particularly famous among masses for anti-establishment views and stances. He has heavily criticized military regimes and dictatorship governments of the past. He has been critical of election rigging by ISI and other agencies. He also denounced Pakistan Army being involved in commercial activities and business ventures. Particularly after Asghar Khan petition decision by Supreme Court of Pakistan, Mir has been loud about influence of ISI and military on political and democratic environment of Pakistan.

See also

• List of Pakistani journalists

External links

• Brief profile on CNN
• British Magazine Prospect about Hamid Mir
• Archive of Capital Talk scripts in Urdu
• Hamid Mir interview with famous Indian Magazine
• Hamid Mir on Malala Yousafzai