Javed Chaudhry (; born 1 January 1968) 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 ...

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

, and

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 ...

who has been hosting the ''Kal Tak'' show on Express News since 2006. He also writes newspaper

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

columns on various topics in his ''Zero Point'' column series in the

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

newspaper.

Early life and education

Javed Chaudhry was born on 1 January 1968, to Chaudhry Muhammad Khan, in

Gujrat District Gujrat ( Punjabi, ) is a district of Gujrat Division in the Pakistani province of Punjab. The Gujrat District was created by the British Government in 1846. According to the 2023 Pakistani census the population of the Gujrat District is 3,219 ...

West Pakistan West Pakistan was the western province of Pakistan between One Unit, 1955 and Legal Framework Order, 1970, 1970, covering the territory of present-day Pakistan. Its land borders were with Afghanistan, India and Iran, with a maritime border wit ...

. He graduated from the Islamia University of Bahawalpur with a degree in Mass Communication. He also enrolled in a few courses at

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

and

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Career

Javed Chaudhry started journalism in 1991, with work on Daily Ummat and Daily Khabrain. He has been writing

columns since 1997 under the header ''Zero Point''. In 1997, he joined ''

Daily Jang The ''Daily Jang'' () is an Urdu language newspaper headquartered in Karachi, Pakistan. It is considered one of Pakistan's newspaper of record and a leading newspaper of Pakistan. History It is the oldest newspaper of Pakistan in continuous p ...

'' as a columnist. All Pakistan Newspapers Society declared him The Best Urdu Columnist of 1997 and 1998. He left Jang and joined Express News in 2006, and has been hosting a political

talk show A talk show is a television programming, radio programming or podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show', pp.3-4Erler, Robert (201 ...

titled ''Kal Tak'' since 2008. Since 2010, he has also been writing English columns for

The Express Tribune ''The Express Tribune'' is a daily English-language newspaper based in Pakistan. It is the flagship publication of the '' Lakson Group'' media group. It is Pakistan's only internationally affiliated newspaper in a partnership with the '' Intern ...

. During his career, Javed has interviewed some of the prominent personalities, such as

Malala Yousafzai Malala Yousafzai (; , pronunciation: ; born 12 July 1997) is a Pakistani female education activist, film and television producer, and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate at the age of 17. She is the youngest Nobel Prize laureate in history, ...

, former president of Pakistan

Pervez Musharraf Pervez Musharraf (11 August 1943 – 5 February 2023) was a Pakistani general and politician who served as the tenth president of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008. Prior to his career in politics, he was a four-star general and appointed as ...

, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Chairman PTI

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi (born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician, philanthropist, and former cricketer who served as the 19th prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022. He was the founder of the political party Pak ...

and Co-chair PPPP

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Bilawal Bhutto Zardari (born 21 September 1988) is a Pakistani politician who served as the 37th Minister of Foreign Affairs, in office from 27 April 2022 to 10 August 2023. He became the chairman of Pakistan People's Party in 2007 following ...

Controversies and criticism

Javed Chaudhry has faced criticism on multiple accounts. In 2012, he was accused of

victim blaming Victim blaming occurs when the victim of a crime or any wrongful act is held entirely or partially at fault for the harm that befell them. There is historical and current prejudice against the victims of domestic violence and sex crimes, such as ...

, on the basis of his April 1 column in the Urdu newspaper Daily Express. In 2018, in his satirical article, he claimed that

Bushra Bibi Bushra Bibi (born 1970s) is a Pakistani faith healer and politician. She is married to Imran Khan who was the prime minister of Pakistan from 2018 to 2022. Early life Bushra Bibi was born in Pakpattan, located 250 km southwest of Lahor ...

married

, after being directed by the Prophet in a dream. Bushra blatantly rejected this claim. Javed was also criticized for doing nothing, during popular stand-off between Qadir Mandokhail and

Firdous Ashiq Awan Firdous Ashiq Awan (Punjabi language, Punjabi, , born 11 January 1970) is a Pakistani politician from Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party. She has served as Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (Pakistan), Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Informat ...

which led to Awan slapping Mandokhail, on his show. In 2019, he published alleged interview of by-then NAB chairman Javed Iqbal in his column published in

, which NAB called fake and untrue.

Books

Awards

* In November 2023, Islamia University of Bahawalpur awarded him an honorary PhD degree recognising his services in the field of journalism. *

Sitara-i-Imtiaz The Sitara-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Sitara-i-Imtiaz, is the third-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") honour and Civil decorations of Pakistan, civilian award in the State of Pakistan. It recognizes individuals who have made an "especially me ...

(Star of Excellence) Award by the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia, con ...

for his services in journalism in 2023.

Notes

References

External links

Latest episodes of Kal Tak with Javed Chaudhary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaudhry, Javed Living people 1968 births Islamia University of Bahawalpur alumni Pakistani male journalists People from Gujrat District Pakistani YouTubers Pakistani columnists Pakistani reporters and correspondents Pakistani television journalists Urdu-language columnists 21st-century Urdu-language writers 20th-century Urdu-language writers Urdu-language writers from Pakistan Pakistani television talk show hosts Recipients of Sitara-i-Imtiaz