Amir Mir is a

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

, and

business executive A business executive is a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. Executives run companies or government agencies. They create plans to help their organizations gr ...

. He was the caretaker information minister of

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

in 2023 to 2024. Mir is currently the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Googlynews.TV. Mir was the CEO of GNN after serving there as Chief Operational Officer as well as a founding member since the channel's inception in August 2018. Prior to this, he worked as COO with JAAG TV, as a group editor of ''

Daily Dunya ''Daily Dunya'' () is an Urdu daily newspaper from Pakistan. It was launched on 3 September 2012 by National Communication Services from Lahore, Pakistan. It is published simultaneously from Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Multan, ...

'' and deputy editor/editor investigations for the English-language Pakistani daily ''

The News International ''The News International'', published in broadsheet size, is one of the largest English language newspapers in Pakistan. It is published daily from Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi/ Islamabad. An overseas edition is published from London th ...

'', based in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

. Mir founded and was editor of ''Weekly Independent'', a political weekly magazine.

Early life and family

Amir Mir was born to Waris Mir. He studied at the Government College University. He is a brother of

Hamid Mir Hamid Mir (born 23 July 1966) is a Pakistani journalist, columnist and writer. Mir initially worked as a journalist with Pakistani newspapers. He has hosted the political talk show '' Capital Talk'' on Geo News intermittently since 2002. He writ ...

and Humaira Mir.

Career

In 1988, Mir started his career with English daily

The Frontier Post ''The Frontier Post'' is an independent English language daily newspaper founded in Peshawar, Pakistan, in 1985. It publishes from Peshawar, Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi, and Quetta. History When the paper was founded in 1985, there were no promi ...

. In 1993 he became a part of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

's English-language daily ''

'' and worked as a team member of the News Bureau of Investigation. Mir has written for various publications such as the

Inter Press Service Inter Press Service (IPS) is a global news agency headquartered in Rome, Italy. Its main focus is news and analysis about social, political, civil, and economic subjects as they relate to the Global South, civil society, and globalization. His ...

, the ''

Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' (also known informally by its abbreviation ''ST'') is a Singaporean daily English-language newspaper owned by the SPH Media Trust. Established on 15 July 1845, it is the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country and ...

'', the ''

Gulf News ''Gulf News'' is a daily English language newspaper published from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. First launched in 1978, it is distributed throughout the UAE and also in other Persian Gulf countries. Its online edition was launched in 1996. Thro ...

'' and weekly ''

The Friday Times ''The Friday Times'' (TFT) is a Pakistani English-language online publication based in Lahore, Pakistan. History ''The Friday Times'' was first published in May 1989. TFT's founder-editor Najam Sethi and publisher Jugnu Mohsin, a husband-and- ...

'' and Monthly '' Newsline''. Before rejoining ''The News'' in 2008, Mir had been working for the ''

DAWN Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...

'' as deputy editor for the group's well reputed monthly magazine ''

Herald A herald, or a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is commonly applied more broadly to all officers of arms. Heralds were originally messengers sent by monarchs or noblemen ...

''. In 2020, Mir was detained by the

Federal Investigation Agency The Federal Investigation Agency (; reporting name: FIA) is a border control, criminal investigation, counter-intelligence and security agency under the control of the Interior Secretary of Pakistan, tasked with investigative jurisdiction on u ...

Bibliography

*''Most Wanted: Profiles of Terror'' (2002) *''The True Face of Jehadis'' (2006) *''The Fluttering Flag of Jehad'' (2008) *''Talibanization of Pakistan: From 9/11 to 26/11'' (2009) * ''The Bhutto Murder Trail: From Waziristan to GHQ'' (2010)

Controversies

Mir has been an outspoken critic of former Pakistani President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, condemning him as a military dictator who violated Pakistan's democracy and constitution. When he was named Best Reporter of 2005 by the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), he refused to accept the award as it was to be presented by Musharraf, and criticised the APNS for inviting Musharraf, whom Mir called a military dictator who did not respect the freedom of expression. In his book, ''The True Face of Jehadis: Inside Pakistan's Network of Terror'', Mir claimed Musharraf believes in

Islamic fundamentalism Islamic fundamentalism has been defined as a revivalist and reform movement of Muslims who aim to return to the founding scriptures of Islam. The term has been used interchangeably with similar terms such as Islamism, Islamic revivalism, Qut ...

. Mir accused Musharraf of making half-hearted efforts to curb radical Islamic groups operating in Pakistan. Mir has been criticised within Pakistan for writing articles that are claimed to be damaging to Pakistan's standing in the world. Maj. Gen. Rashid Qureshi of the

Pakistani army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

accused Mir of being an "Indian agent" after he published an article in ''

Outlook Outlook or The Outlook may refer to: Computing * Microsoft Outlook, also referred to as ''the classic Outlook'' an e-mail client and personal information management software product from Microsoft * Outlook for Windows, also referred to as ''the ...

'', an

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n news magazine. Mir claimed harassment from officials in the Pakistani government and has reportedly told friends and family that president Pervez Musharraf was to be held responsible for any harm to his life or person. In a report highlighting threats to press freedom in Pakistan,

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

claimed that Mir had been threatened by Musharraf, and claimed that Mir's car was set on fire in November 2003 as an act of intimidation and harassment. Mir has been critical of US Predator drone attacks in Pakistan, stating that large numbers of civilians have been killed. On 10 April 2009, Mir told the Pakistan newspaper

that 687 civilians and only 14 high-value Al Qaeda targets were killed so far in the strikes. On 1 February 2010, Mir reported that 123 civilians and 3 Al Qaeda fighters were killed in 10 drone strikes in January 2010.

The Jamestown Foundation The Jamestown Foundation is a Washington, D.C.–based non-partisan defense policy think tank. Founded in 1984 as a platform to support Soviet defectors, its stated mission is to inform and educate policy makers about events and trends, which i ...

criticised Mir's numbers, stating that there had been 16.5 suspected militants killed for every civilian as of June 2010, according to the foundation's analysis of Western and Pakistani news sources. The ''Long War Journal'', through reports from various media outlets and US intelligence officials, estimated in July 2011 that the drone strikes in Pakistan had killed 2,018 militants and only 138 civilians since 2006.

References

External links