Fasi Zaka (; born 9 October) is a Pakistani political commentator, columnist, radio talk show host, and television anchor. Zaka attended

Somerville College Somerville College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The college's liberal tone derives from its f ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

as a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international Postgraduate education, postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Esta ...

. He rose to prominence for his satirical views of the War on Terror and emergency rule, as host of ''News, Views & Confused'' on

Aaj TV () is a 24-hour Pakistani news television channel. It is a privately owned Urdu language Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language an ...

. After featuring as a columnist for ''The News'', Zaka began ''The Fasi Zaka Show'' on Radio1 FM91, which became one of the highest-rated radio shows in the country. He returned to television a decade later as co-host of

primetime Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to b ...

current affairs programme '' Do Raaye'' on

Dawn News Dawn News HD is a Pakistani 24-hour Urdu news channel. Based in Karachi, the station is a subsidiary of Pakistan Herald Publications Limited (PHPL), Pakistan's largest English-language media group. The test transmission of the station occurr ...

in 2017. He was declared a

Young Global Leader Forum of Young Global Leaders, or Young Global Leaders (YGL), is a non-profit organization. The organization was created by Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum and is managed from Geneva, Switzerland, under the supervision of the Sw ...

by the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

and has been described as a "media

polymath A polymath or polyhistor is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Polymaths often prefer a specific context in which to explain their knowledge, ...

" and "

shock jock A shock jock is a radio broadcaster or DJ who entertains listeners and attracts attention using humor or melodramatic exaggeration that may offend some portion of the listening audience. The term is used pejoratively to describe provocative or ...

Early life

Born to a Pakhtun family from

Charsadda Chārsadda (; ; ; ) is a town and headquarters of Charsadda District, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

, where he stayed until he acquired his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

from

Edwardes College Edwardes College Peshawar (Urdu: ایڈورڈز کالج پشاور, Pashto: اېډوارډز کالج پېښور) is a semi-government degree college which is the oldest higher education institution in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkh ...

in Peshawar and master's degree from the

University of Peshawar The University of Peshawar (; ; ; abbreviated UoP; known more popularly as Peshawar University) is a public research university located in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The university is one of the oldest universities in the provi ...

. Zaka is also a University of Oxford postgraduate funded as a

in the session 2001–03 from

Career

Zaka began his career in 2004 as the host of the off-beat music program ''On the Fringe'', in collaboration with his cousin

Zeeshan Pervez Sajid & Zeeshan ( pronounced as "Saa-jid and Zeesh-shaan") are a Pakistani electronic music duo from Peshawar, composed of Sajid Ghafoor (guitars and harmonicas) and Zeeshan Parwez (synths, laptops and FX modules). Both members released thei ...

. The show aired on Indus Music and later

MTV Pakistan MTV Pakistan was the Pakistani subsidiary of MTV, a cable television network owned by Viacom. The Pakistan franchise was set up in collaboration with Pakistan's first satellite channel media group known as Indus Media Group (Indus TV). ''Ind ...

''News, Views & Confused''

On 11 April 2007, Zaka started to host and script a political and social satire show on

AAJ TV () is a 24-hour Pakistani news television channel. It is a privately owned Urdu language Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language an ...

. The show ''

News, Views & Confused () is a 24-hour Pakistani news television channel. It is a privately owned Urdu language TV station which covers national and international news. The channel started out as hybrid channel (news, current affairs and entertainment), but later se ...

'' was co-hosted by

Nadeem F. Paracha Nadeem Farooq Paracha (), also known as NFP, is a Pakistani journalist, author, cultural critic, satirist, and historian. He is a columnist for Pakistan's largest English-language daily ''Dawn''. Career He is the author of nine books on the so ...

and Mohsin Sayeed, and received significant international attention through ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' and other publications for its programmes during the second emergency declared during

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Musharraf's rule in 2007 amidst a severe clampdown on press freedom. The show ended its run in 2008.

Columnist

Zaka is currently a weekly opinion editorial writer for ''The Express Tribune'', the paper which also brings out the ''International Herald Tribune'' in Pakistan. He used to write as a columnist for the leading Pakistani newspaper, ''

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 ...

'', where he wrote the weekly political opinion editorial column, ''The Pakistan Report Card'' and the pop culture criticism column titled ''His Bigness'' in the Instep segment of the Sunday edition. He wrote a bi-weekly light humour diary column in the weekly magazine

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- ...

under the heading, Man Friday. As a writer some of his prominent themes have included bringing back rationality into civil dialogue, political satire, debunking conspiracy theories that affect the national discourse in Pakistan.

Radio

Zaka headlines one of Pakistan's most listened to radio shows, ''The Fasi Zaka and Friends Show'', on Pakistan's

FM radio FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting that uses frequency modulation (FM) of the radio broadcast carrier wave. Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to transmit high fidelity, high-f ...

station Radio One FM 91, which is aired nationally. The show is aired three times a week, and is known for its absurdist humour and liberal politics embedded in the jokes.

''Do Raaye''

Zaka returned to television in 2017 alongside Asad Rahim Khan, as coanchor of '' Do Raaye'' on

, a

current affairs Current affairs may refer to: News * ''Current Affairs'' (magazine) a bimonthly American magazine of culture and politics. * Current affairs (news format), a genre of broadcast journalism * ''Current Affairs'', former name for ''Behind the News' ...

programme.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaka, Fasi Living people Pashtun people 1976 births Pakistani television hosts Pakistani columnists Pakistani satirists Pakistani male journalists Pakistani music critics Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford Pakistani Rhodes Scholars Pakistani radio personalities University of Peshawar alumni People from Charsadda District, Pakistan Edwardes College alumni