Najam Sethi Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Full name	Najam Aziz Sethi [1]The News
Profession(s)	Journalist, Businessman
Known for	• Being the chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board • Being the founder of The Friday Times and Vanguard Books
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 173 cm in meters- 1.73 m in feet & inches- 5’ 8”
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Semi-Bald (Grey)
Career
Awards, Honours, Achievements	• 1999: International Press Freedom Award of the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists • 2009: World Association of Newspapers' Golden Pen of Freedom Award • 2011: Hilal-i-Imtiaz Award by the President of Pakistan
Personal Life
Date of Birth	20 May 1948 (Thursday)
Age (as of 2022)	74 Years
Birthplace	Kasur, Punjab, Pakistan
Zodiac sign	Taurus
Signature
Nationality	Pakistani
Hometown	Kasur, Punjab
School	St. Anthony High School, Lahore
College/University	• University of Cambridge, England • Government College University, Lahore
Educational Qualification(s) [2]DAWN	• Masters in Economics from Cambridge University • PhD (1972)
Controversies	Part of Baluchistan protests In 1971, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) formed a new government in the centre, but National Awami Party was running the government in Balochistan. In 1973, the PPP regime accused the NAP of holding a separatist movement in Balochistan and dismissed it, so people in Baloch started a war with the Pakistan Army. Najam decided to leave his studies in London and came back to Pakistan to support the Baloch nationalists' side. In 1975, he was arrested for being part of the socialist movement working for the rights of Baluchistan. [3]LUBP Accused of sedetion In 1999, Najam was arrested by personnel of Punjab police because he was planning to give an interview to a team for the BBC television show 'Correspondent' in which he was planning to talk about corruption in the Nawaz Sharif government. In May 1999, he was warned by some of his contacts that his interview with BBC against Nawaz Sharif's government was considered an attempt to destabilize it. His contacts also told him that the officials were planning to arrest him. According to Najam's wife, eight police officers came forcefully into their house and assaulted the security guards. She also revealed that when she asked the officers for an arrest warrant, they threatened to shoot Najam on the spot and even locked her in another room. Sethi was then put in jail for almost a month without charge. He was kept at a detention centre in Lahore and was not allowed to talk to anyone. Amnesty International stated that his arrest was in connection to his interview on government corruption. The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists sent a letter to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif stating that they did not agree to the arrest of Najam. The World Bank also came in his support and president James Wolfensohn called and persuade Nawaz Sharif to release Najam. On 1 June, he was charged under 'Condemnation of the Creation of the State and Advocacy of Abolition of its Sovereignty' and 'Promoting Enmity Between Different Groups' after which he was taken into police custody. However, the Supreme Court of Pakistan permitted to release because there was not sufficient evidence for his detention. [4]The Washington Post Accusations of fraud In June 1991, Tehmina Durrani wrote the book My Feudal Lord which was published by Vanguard Books. The book was politically explosive because it was based on her life and her marriage to a Pakistani politician named Mustafa Khar. She described the abuse by her ex-husband in her book. The book gained a lot of popularity and was known as the 'hottest book in Pakistan's history.' Durrani signed a contract with Mohsin and gave 50% of foreign royalties to her. However, when Najam was arrested in 1999 and was not allowed to talk to anyone, Durrani called a press conference and accused him of stealing all her earnings from the book. She also accused him of mental torture after which he also sued her for defamation. [5]INDEPENDENT
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Marriage Date	Year, 1983
Family
Wife/Spouse	Jugnu Mohsin (journalist)
Children	Son- Ali Sethi (singer) Daughter- Mira Sethi (actresss)
Parents	Father- Abdul Aziz Sethi

Some Lesser Known Facts About Najam Sethi

• Najam Sethi is a Pakistani journalist and businessman who is known for being the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board. He is also popular for being the founder of The Friday Times and Vanguard Books.

• In 1978, he started a publishing company Vanguard Books.

• He came up with the idea of an independent newspaper when no other newspaper protested against his arrest in 1984 on charges of copyright. They took the license in his wife’s name because Najam was considered an offender by the government. His wife wanted to publish an entertainment section with pictures of parties and weddings. Their license got approved in 1987, but he released his first issue in 1989 because he never wanted to print his issue under the dictatorship of General Zia ul Haq.

• In 1989, he launched an English weekly, The Friday Times along with his wife. In 1999, he was arrested on charges of disloyalty to the country but was later released by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

• In 2002, he founded the Daily Times of Pakistan and became its editor and served in the position till 2009. From 1990 to 2008, he was the Pakistan correspondent of The Economist.

• In 2008, he received death threats from the Taliban when he wrote editorials on religious fundamentalism due to which he had to live under high security. Later in 2008, he received death threats when he published an editorial cartoon showing Umme Hassaan, the principal of a girls’ school and encouraging students to wear burqas and kidnap Chinese women. Many people thought that the cartoon was a taunt to her because her husband Abdul Aziz Ghazi who was a cleric in the Lal Masjid was arrested in connection to kidnapping six Chinese women who were accused of prostitution.

• He was elected as the caretaker Chief Minister (CM) of Punjab on 26 March 2013 for the General Elections. He was chosen by PPP (Pakistan Peoples Party) and the opposition, PML-N (Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz) also agreed on his name. He left the position on 6 June 2013 and Shehbaz Sharif was appointed as the Chief Minister. After the elections, the losing party accused him of fixing the elections in 35 constituencies and called them the 35 punctures.

• In 2013, Najam was appointed as the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board by Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif on orders from the Islamabad High Court. He was made the interim chairman because a case was pending against the serving chairman, Zaka Ashraf.

• In 2014, he was the host of the primetime current affairs show ‘Aapas ki Baat’ on Geo News.
  

  Najam Sethi on the show ‘Aapas ki Baat’

• In 2015, Najam was shortlisted to be the ICC president.

• In 2015, in an interview, he said that PCB wants Indian players to play PSL and that Pakistani players should be allowed to play IPL. In the interview, he further added,
  

  We are going to try to persuade the Indians to play us in December. If that happens, we will also be talking about a reciprocal arrangement – and I have had preliminary talks with people in Delhi on this – about Pakistani players being allowed to play in IPL and Indian players being allowed to play in PSL.”

• In 2017, during the India v/s Pakistan match in the ICC Champions Trophy final, Najam was manhandled by a group of people who were supporters of PTI.

• He served as the President of AAP Media Media Network/Indus News till 2018.

• In 2018, Najam resigned from the position of Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board after Imran Khan was elected as the Prime Minister of Pakistan in the 2018 Pakistan General Election. Later, Imran Khan announced the new chairman, former ICC President Ehsan Mani. Sharing his resignation on Twitter, he wrote,
  

  I was waiting for the new Prime Minister to take oath before submitting my resignation as PCB Chairman, which I have done today. I wish PCB all the best and hope our cricket team goes from strength to strength. Eid Mubarak. Pakistan Zindabad.”

• In 2020, his son, Ali was criticized for calling a Twitter user auntie, who asked him if he had produced any original songs.

• On 21 December 2022, he was elected as the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. He would replace Ramiz Raja. The notification by the Prime Minister’s office stated,
  

  The Prime Minister has seen and is pleased to approve the proposal at para 7, of the summary with the stipulation that names of the Management Committee, to be placed before the Federal Cabinet.”