''The Pakistan Times'' (1947–1996) was 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 ...

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

, established by Mian Itikharuddin and Faiz Ahmed Faiz through the leftist Progressive Papers Limited. Its headquarters was 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 ...

, Pakistan. Later, it started another edition from

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

. The

edition was later shifted to

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

Masthead

From beginning to 31 December 1948, the newspaper's masthead printed on the first page and back page contained the title ''Pakistan Times''. However, on editorial page and other inside pages, the title of the newspaper was ''The Pakistan Times''. From 1 January 1949, the masthead printed on the first page and back page also converted to the title ''The Pakistan Times''.

History

''The Pakistan Times'' was owned and operated by Mian Iftikharuddin, a Punjabi politician formerly of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

but of the

All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party founded in 1906 in Dhaka, British India with the goal of securing Muslims, Muslim interests in South Asia. Although initially espousing a united India with interfaith unity, the Muslim L ...

after 1946. The newspaper started publication on 4 February 1947 from

. Its editor in the 1940s was the communist poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz. After his arrest in 1951 in connection with the Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case, Mazhar Ali Khan served as the editor-in-chief. ''The Pakistan Times'' continued to be an influential newspaper in the 1950s, with its disparaging criticism of the government in participating in the US-sponsored military alliances. During the military regime of Ayub Khan, rigorous pre-censorship was imposed on the press including ''The Pakistan Times''. In April 1959, the regime took over the Progressive Papers Limited under the Pakistan Security Act. In 1964, the National Press Trust was set up by the Ayub government as a front organisation for managing the newspapers taken over by the government including ''The Pakistan Times''.Pakistan
Press Reference website, Retrieved 30 July 2019 In the 1980s, 10 journalists and management staff of ''The Pakistan Times'' were dismissed by the

Zia ul-Haq Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (12 August 192417 August 1988) was a Pakistani military officer and statesman who served as the sixth president of Pakistan from 1978 until his death in an airplane crash in 1988. He also served as the second chief of ...

regime for their connections to the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy and for signing an appeal for "Peace in Sindh" movement.

Disinvestment Disinvestment refers to the use of a concerted economic boycott to pressure a government, industry, or company towards a change in policy, or in the case of governments, even regime change. The term was first used in the 1980s, most commonly in ...

and privatisation of companies and newspapers belonging to the National Press Trust took place in 1996. The same year, ''The Pakistan Times'' was closed down.National Press Trust
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References

Bibliography

* * * English-language newspapers published in Pakistan Mass media in Lahore 1947 establishments in Pakistan Newspapers established in 1947 Pakistan Movement {{Pakistan-newspaper-stub