Wajahat Masood

Wajahat Masood (; born 3 August 1966) is a Pakistani journalist, columnist, political analyst, academic and human rights defender. He is widely considered to be a liberal, and promotes the ideals of human rights and democracy, including equality of rights and citizenship.

He is currently working with the Urdu-language newspaper Daily Jang. He has earlier worked with BBC and other organisations. He is currently the chief editor of e-paper Humsub Urdu and Humsub English. He is a host of a current affairs program "Sadd Rang", being aired on PTV News.

Early life and career Wajahat Masood was born on 3 August 1966. He did his graduation from Government College University, Lahore and M.A. English from University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. Then he went on to earn an LLM degree in International Human Rights Law from the University of Leeds, UK.

He has been active in three fields: education, human rights and journalism. In 1994, he founded and then worked as a director for the Democratic Commission for Human Development for 11 years besides acting as a consultant for different international development agencies. Wajahat Masood trained thousands of young activists in the villages of Pakistan in human rights and human development. Wajahat Masood has been acting as chairperson, Centre for Social Justice since 2014. He has taught at University of the Punjab, Government College University, Lahore, National College of Arts (Lahore) and Lahore School of Law. He was the founding editor of Dunyapakistan.com. He is a highly acclaimed Urdu language columnist. He writes three columns a week for the most widely circulated Urdu language newspaper in the country, Daily Jang besides a weekly column for Deutsche Welle.

Pakistan's veteran journalist and columnist I.A. Rehman has talked highly of Wajahat Masood's journalistic abilities in his recently published book. I.A. Rehman says that Wajahat Masood not only informs his readers but also helps them understand the larger picture in terms of the political situation in Pakistan. Mahaasray Ka Roznaamcha (volumes 1-5)'' Aman Mumkin Hai Jamhooriat ke 100 Baras Nisab-e-Gul What is Democracy What is Critical Thinking What is Secularism What is Fundamentalism Walton camp nai mukia (Punjabi poetry) Maulvi Tamiz ud din banaam wafaq e Pakistan (Translation) suhrwardy ki siasat beeti (Translation) Nobel inaam yaftagaan kay afsanay (Translation)

Articles

The dynamics of Khan's victory Icon of democracy The people's party Certainly no time to die Soft-crust religious extremism A captive freedom

Awards and recognition Pride of Performance Award for journalism by the President of Pakistan in 2016 National Bibliophile Award in 2013