Arshad Sharif facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Arshad Sharif
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| ارشد شریف | |
Sharif in 2013
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| Born | 22 February 1973 |
| Died | 23 October 2022 (aged 49) Kajiado, Kenya
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| Cause of death | Gunshot wound |
| Resting place | H-11 graveyard |
| Education |
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| Occupation | News anchor Analyst |
| Employer | ARY Digital Network |
| Known for | Power Play TV Show ARY News News Reporter at Dawn News TV Show Kyun? (Why?) at Dunya News |
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Notable credit(s)
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Anchor ARY News Bureau Chief ARY News (Islamabad) News anchor Dunya TV Former Director News, Aaj News Former Director News, Dunya TV |
| Television | ARY News, Dunya News , Dawn News |
| Spouse(s) | Javeria Siddique |
| Children | 5 |
| Parent(s) | Muhammad Sharif (father) |
| Relatives | Ashraf Sharif (brother) |
| Awards |  Pride of PerformanceAgahi Award Asian Investigative Media Award War Correspondent Award |
| YouTube information | |
| Years active | 2017–2022 |
| Subscribers | 442 thousand |
| Total views | 12.1 million |
| Subscriber and view counts updated as of 1 November 2022. | |
Arshad Sharif PP (Urdu: ارشد شریف; 22 February 1973 – 23 October 2022) was a Pakistani journalist, writer, and television news anchor. He specialised in investigative journalism and covered many political events in the country for national and international news organisations, including the United Kingdom. On 23 March 2019, he was awarded the Pride of Performance by the President of Pakistan Arif Alvi, for his contributions to journalism. He was shot and killed by police in Kenya on 23 October 2022.
Sharif was the host of the program Power Play on ARY News. He served on AAJ News as News Director. Prior to joining AAJ, he was leading the news team of Dunya News as Director of News and was the host of the program Kyun.
Contents
Early life
Arshad Sharif was born in Karachi, Pakistan, to a Commander of the Pakistan Navy, Muhammad Sharif TI(M) TK. He began his journalistic career as a freelancer in 1993, while he was still a student. He received his Master of Science in Public Administration from Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad.
Journalistic career
Sharif's first media job was with a weekly publication, Pulse, for which he was a columnist, reporter, and managing editor in 1999. He joined The News in 1999 and Daily Dawn in 2001.
Sharif covered conflicts in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas with a specialization in defence and foreign affairs. He reported for leading Pakistani news organizations from London, Paris, Strasbourg, and Kiel. He was the winner of a 2012 Agahi Award. Sharif as anchor and Adeel Raja as producer won the 2016 Investigative Journalist of the Year Award for the programme Powerplay. In 2018, Sharif was awarded Agahi's Peoples’ Choice Awards: Favourite Current Affairs Anchor – Male.
He started his programme Power Play on ARY News in 2014.
Sharif also headed AAJ News and Dunya TV as 'Director News'. He worked as a Bureau Chief for Dawn News in 2011.
In August 2022 Sharif fled Pakistan to avoid arrest after a number of accusations, including sedition charges over an interview with PTI leader Shahbaz Gill during which the latter had made controversial comments. Alleging threats to his life, Sharif moved to Dubai and later to Kenya.
Death
Sharif was shot and killed in Kajiado, Kenya, by local police on 23 October 2022. The Kenyan police described the shooting as a case of "mistaken identity", and there was speculation on social media that he had been assassinated. On 24 October, the Kenyan Independent Police Oversight Authority announced an investigation into Sharif's death.
Investigation committee
The formation of an inquiry committee to look into the circumstances surrounding the murder of investigative journalist Arshad has been announced by Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on 26 October 2002.
According to a notification, the two-member committee made up of Athar Waheed, director of the Federal Investigation Agency's headquarters, and Umar Shahid Hamid, deputy director of the Intelligence Bureau, would travel to Kenya and present its findings to the Interior Ministry.
The investigation team in Kenya, met with the acting Kenyan police head and representatives of the Pakistan High Commission in Kenya to discuss the Arshad Sharif murder case. They had recorded the testimony of two brothers Khurram Ahmed and Waqar Ahmed who had given the murdered journalist lodging and other services while he was in Kenya. The Kenyan authorities also received Sharif's iPad and smartphone.
The team that travelled to Kenya to look into the murder of journalist Arshad returned home on November 8, 2022, after doing their inquiry. while in Kenya, the investigating team gathered information about the Arshad Sharif case. The team received cooperation from the Pakistani embassy and foreign ministry for better fact-finding. The investigation team will give the interior ministry its report.
Judicial inquiry
The Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), Umar Ata Bandial, has been asked by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to set up a judicial committee to conduct a fair and reliable investigation into the murder of Sharif. The chief justice was requested by the prime minister to form a commission made up of all the highest courts' available judges to investigate the circumstances surrounding the journalist's murder. According to the letter, the panel might concentrate on the following five issues about the circumstances surrounding the murder:
- What steps did Sharif take to travel abroad in August 2022, and who made those arrangements?
- Was the threat made against Sharif known to any federal or provincial agencies, institutions, or administrations?
- What conditions and motives compelled Sharif to fly from the United Arab Emirates to Kenya?
- What actually happened during the shooting incident that resulted in Arshad Sharif's death?
- Is Sharif's death really the product of a misidentification or was it a "criminal game"?
The prime minister declared in this context that the federal government would provide the judicial commission with complete cooperation. After the murder, a commission made up of senior officials was dispatched to Kenya.
Reaction
News of Sharif's killing was met with shock in Pakistan and abroad. The President of Pakistan Arif Alvi described Sharif's death as "a great loss to journalism and Pakistan". The Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif described the killing as "shocking news". Former Prime Minister Imran Khan wrote on Twitter that he was "shocked at the brutal murder of Arshad Sharif who paid the ultimate price for speaking the truth - his life".
Afzal Butt, president of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), expressed his grief at the news and called for an inquiry into the killing of Sharif. Journalist Kamran Khan questioned the government on Twitter and asked the Prime Minister to take "the nation in confidence".
A significant number of people attended Arshad Sharif's funeral prayers. Close friends and colleagues arrived at Sharif's home to express their condolences, including Imran Khan and Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad.
Personal life
Arshad Sharif's father, Commander Muhammad Sharif, died of a heart attack at the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology in May 2011. His younger brother, Major Ashraf Sharif, was killed when his car veered off the road on his way to attend the funeral of their father in May 2011. On hearing about the death of his father, Major Ashraf Sharif, left Bannu Cantonment refusing a chauffeur or escort. A few kilometres away, his vehicle veered off the road and hit a tree, killing him. Commander Muhammad Sharif and Major Ashraf Sharif were laid to rest with full military honours at the H-11 Graveyard.
He is survived by his wife, Javeria Siddique.
Awards and recognition
- Pride of Performance Award in 2019 by the President of Pakistan
- Agahi Award for Journalism in 2012
See also
- List of Pakistani journalists
- List of Pakistani writers
