Arshad Sharif Biography – Arshad Sharif Wiki
Arshad Sharif was a journalist, writer, and television news anchor from Pakistan. His specialty as a journalist was investigative journalism and he covered many political events in the country for national and international news organizations, including the United Kingdom. On March 23, 2019, he was awarded the Pride of Performance by the President of Pakistan Arif Alvi for his contributions to journalism. He was killed on October 23, 2022. Sharif was the host of the program Power Play on ARY News. He served on AAJ News as News Director. Before he joined AAJ, he was leading the news team of Dunya News as Director of News and was the host of the program Kyun.
His journalistic career started as a freelancer in 1993 while he was still studying. He received his Master of Science in Public Administration from Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad. He was first employed in the media industry by a weekly publication, Pulse. He served as a columnist, reporter, and managing editor in 1999. He then became part of The News in 1999 and Daily Dawn in 2001. The deceased also headed AAJ News and Dunya TV as ‘Director News’. He worked as a Bureau Chief of Dawn News in 2011.
The late journalist covered conflicts in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas with a specialization in defense and foreign affairs. He reported for leading Pakistani news organizations from London, Paris, Strasbourg, and Kiel. He was the winner of a 2012 Agahi Award. He began his programme Power Play on ARY News in 2014. Sharif as the anchor and Adeel Raja as producer won the 2016 Investigative Journalist of the Year Award for the programme Powerplay. In 2018, Sharif was awarded Agahi’s Peoples’ Choice Award: Favorite Current Affairs Anchor – Male. In 2019, he received the Pride of Performance Award awarded by the President of Pakistan.
Arshad Sharif Age
He was born on February 22, 1973, in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, and died on October 23, 2022, in Magadi, Kajiado, Kenya. He was 49 years old at the time of his demise.
Arshad Sharif Wife
Until his demise on October 23, 2022, he was married to his wife, Javeria Siddique. The couple had five children together in their union.
Arshad Sharif Children
He was married and was a father of five children.
Arshad Sharif Family
He was born in Karachi, Pakistan, to a Commander of the Pakistan Navy, Muhammad Sharif TI(M) TK, his father. His father Commander Muhammad Sharif died of a heart attack at the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology in May 2011. His younger brother, Major Ashraf Sharif lost his life when his car veered off the road on his way to attend the funeral of their father in May 2011. On hearing about the death of his father, Major Ashraf Sharif, left Bannu Cantonment refusing a chauffeur or escort. A few kilometers away, his vehicle veered off the road and hit a tree, killing him. His father Commander Muhammad Sharif and his brother Major Ashraf Sharif were laid to rest with full military honors at the H-11 Graveyard.
He has his brother Kuram Ahmed who was driving him at the time of his death.
Arshad Sharif Death
Sharif was shot and killed in Kajiado, Kenya by local police on October 23, 2022, at the age of 49. The Kenyan police described the shooting as a case of “mistaken identity”, and there was speculation on social media that he had been assassinated. On October 24, 2022, the Kenyan Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA) announced an investigation into his death. The GSU police are said to have been manning a roadblock in Magadi, Kajiado after they reportedly failed to stop when they were flagged down by the officers who were on the trail of a reported stolen vehicle.
News of Sharif’s killing was met with utter dismay in Pakistan and around the world. The President of Pakistan Arif Alvi described Sharif’s death as “a great loss to journalism and Pakistan”. The Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif described the killing as “shocking news”. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan wrote on Twitter that he was “shocked at the brutal murder of Arshad Sharif who paid the ultimate price for speaking the truth – his life”.
Afzal Butt, president of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), expressed his grief at the news and called for an inquiry into the killing of Sharif. Journalist Kamran Khan questioned the government on Twitter and asked the Prime Minister to take “the nation in confidence”. The deceased’s close friends and colleagues like Imran Khan and Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad arrived at his home to express their condolences.
Arshad Sharif Cause of Death
The cause of his death was a result of gunshot wounds.
Arshad Sharif Nationality
He was of Pakistani nationality. He was born and brought up in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.
