''Pakistan Times'' (1947–1996) was a Pakistani

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written 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 politics, business, sports a ...

, originally established by the leftist Progressive Papers Limited based in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

, Pakistan.

Historical background

It was owned and operated by

Mian Iftikharuddin Mian Iftikharuddin (Punjabi, ur, میاں افتخارالدیں; 8 April 1907 – 6 June 1962) was a Pakistani politician, activist of the Indian National Congress, who later joined the All-India Muslim League and worked for the cause of Pakis ...

, a Punjabi politician formerly of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

but of

All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party established in Dhaka in 1906 when a group of prominent Muslim politicians met the Viceroy of British India, Lord Minto, with the goal of securing Muslim interests on the Indian subcontin ...

after 1946. The newspaper started publication on 4 February 1947. Its editor-in-chief in the 1940s was the communist poet

Faiz Ahmed Faiz Faiz Ahmad ''Faiz'' (13 February 1911 – 20 November 1984; Urdu, Punjabi: فیض احمد فیض) was a Pakistani poet, and author of Urdu and Punjabi literature. Faiz was one of the most celebrated Pakistani Urdu writers of his time. Out ...

. After his arrest in 1951 in connection with the

Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case The Rawalpindi Conspiracy (also known as the Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case) was an attempted ''coup d'état'' against the governments of Liaquat Ali Khan, the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, in 1951. The conspiracy was the first of many subsequen ...

, Mazhar Ali Khan served as the editor-in-chief.All Handouts for Mass Communication - Virtual University of Pakistan
Retrieved 30 July 2019 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 Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...

, 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 including the ''Pakistan Times''.Pakistan
Press Reference website, Retrieved 30 July 2019 In the 1980s, ten journalists and management staff of the ''Pakistan Times'' were dismissed by the

Zia ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law i ...

regime for their connections to the

Movement for the Restoration of Democracy The Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) ( ur, اتحاد برائے بحالی جمہوریت), was a historically left-wing populism and massive socialist political alliance formed to oppose and end the military government of Preside ...

and for signing an appeal for "Peace in Sindh" movement. The National Press Trust was privatized in 1996. The same year, the ''Pakistan Times'' was closed down.

References

Bibliography

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