Makhdoom Shahabuddin is a Pakistani journalist, columnist, and activist. He has served as an anchorperson for numerous Pakistani news channels, including Hum News and PTV News. For his report on child pornography in Pakistan, Shahabuddin received the Agahi Award (Journalist of the Year) in 2019. He contributes columns to Pakistani daily newspapers such as the Pakistan Observer, Daily Times, and several more. Shahabuddin is also a political commentator on YouTube, where he has over 1 million followers.
Early Life and Career
Shahabuddin was born in Sargodha on October 22, 1995, into the Makhdoom family, a Sufi Muslim clan renowned in South Asia. He received his primary and secondary education at Sargodha before enrolling in Chand Bagh Institution, a prestigious boarding institution in Pakistan, for his high school years. He then earned a Civil Engineering degree from the National University of Sciences and Technology.
Shahabuddin’s interest then switched from engineering to the media industry, and he took media courses at the BBC, Aljazeera Media Institute, British Council, and others. He worked as a news reporter and TV host for several Pakistani news networks, including PTV Home and Hum News. He is regarded as a pioneer of digital media journalism in Pakistan. Shahabuddin moved to Europe to pursue an Erasmus Mundus Master’s degree in Media, Journalism, and Globalisation at Aarhus University in Denmark and Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic.
ShahabLeaks
Shahabuddin revealed in a video in June 2021 that Hamid Mir’s verified social media accounts were controlled from India. His Facebook page was temporarily deleted when the video was shared on social media, but it reappeared after the Indian administrator was removed from the panel. Social media users praised Shahabuddin for exposing Hamid Mir, and the hashtag #ShahabLeaks quickly became the top trending topic on Pakistani Twitter.
Threats
Because of his outspoken criticism of the government and the powerful Pakistani military establishment, Shahabuddin has been harassed by officials, who have threatened to arrest him, implicate him in fake criminal cases, and ruin his career. In February 2023, he filed a writ suit in the Lahore High Court under Article 199 of Pakistan’s Constitution. The court agreed with the petitioner’s argument and ordered the respondents to follow the letter of the law and refrain from harassing the petitioner and his family members.
Arrest
In April 2023, Shahabuddin was served with an arrest warrant by the Federal Investigation Agency of Pakistan on grounds of anti-state propaganda. This notice, however, was successfully contested in the Islamabad High Court and Lahore municipal courts, resulting in his acquittal.
Banned from Pakistani TV
Shahabuddin hosted the famous prime-time talk show “Ab Baat Hogi,” which premiered in April 2023. This show aired on BOL News at 7 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. However, his show was unexpectedly cancelled, and he was removed from the BOL News screen in May 2023, just one month after the show’s debut. He was also taken off the radio because he was vocal and critical of Pakistan’s power corridors and establishment. This surprise suspension from Pakistani television screens is not unusual, as other journalists have been removed from the air in the same way in the past.