The Star (Pakistan)

The Star was an English-language evening newspaper in Pakistan that ceased publication in 2005.

This article is about the defunct newspaper in Pakistan, previously published as The Star of India. For other uses of 'Star of India', see Star of India.
The Star
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
Owner(s)Dawn Group of Newspapers[1]
EditorKamal Majidulla
Imran Aslam in the 1980s
Asif Noorani
Founded1949
HeadquartersHaroon House,
Dr. Ziauddin Ahmed Road, Saddar, Karachi, Pakistan
WebsiteDAWN.com (Dawn Group of Newspapers)

Early history

The paper was founded in Calcutta on 17 August 1932, as The Star of India.[2] Watson describes it as 'the first daily paper championing the Muslim cause and printed in English … to appear in the city'.[3] As might be expected from a paper with this editorial bent, it frequently covered issues related to the Pakistan Movement.[4]

Following the Partition of India in 1947, the paper moved to Karachi and began publishing there—as the Dawn's evening edition—in August 1949.[2] It appears also to have had an office in Dhaka in the 1930s or 1940s.[5] The paper folded in 2005.[6]

A number of significant figures in early Pakistan and the Pakistan Movement contributed to the paper, including Abul Hassan Isphani, Mirza Ahmad Ispahani, and Adamjee Haji Dawood.[5] Altaf Husain published under the pseudonym 'A Mofussil Muslim';[7] Raghib Assan, an associate of Muhammad Iqbal, frequently wrote for the paper.[8][9] In 1933, the paper published an article titled 'Grievances of Bengal Muslims', which was cited by S. C. Mitra to Harry Graham Haig in a question time session of the Central Legislative Assembly.[10]

Pothan Joseph edited the paper in the 1940s.[11] Following the Lahore Resolution, he reoriented the The Star's editorial stance to favour a separate Muslim nation.[12]

In 1954, Julian Huxley debated the Soviet biologist Nuzdin, a supporter of the views of Trofim Lysenko, in Karachi. Star staff assisted Huxley in his preparations for the debate.[13]

Modern era

The Star was part of the Dawn Media Group,[14] published by Pakistan Herald Publications (Pvt.) Limited (PHPL).[15][1] It focused on controversial issues and gained a reputation for being outspoken and hard-hitting. The last editor of the paper was Kamal Majidulla.

The newspaper published a weekend arts supplement called Star Weekend, edited by Asif Noorani.

Imran Aslam, now President of Geo TV, edited The Star in the 1980s.[15]

Notes
  1. Profile of newspaper 'The Star' on mondotimes.com website Retrieved 29 March 2020
  2. DiCostanzo 2012, p. 231–232.
  3. Watson, Alfred H. (1948). "The Growth of the Press in English in India". Journal of the Royal Society of Arts. 96 (4760): 121–130 at 128–129. ISSN 0035-9114.
  4. See notes 10, 16, 32–34, and 105 to Chakrabarty, Bidyut (August 2008). "An Alternative to Partition: The United Bengal Scheme". South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies. 26 (2): 193–212. doi:10.1080/085640032000089744. ISSN 0085-6401.
  5. Talha, Naureen (June 2014). "Indian Muslims in British India: Toward Economic Nationalism and Economic Independence (1943–1947)" (PDF).
  6. Acharya, Keya; Noronha, Frederick (20 January 2010). The Green Pen: Environmental Journalism in India and South Asia. New Delhi: SAGE Publications India. 106, note 11. ISBN 978-81-321-0496-4.
  7. Fazila-Yacoobali 2006, p. 196.
  8. Naqvi, S Ali Raza (1986). "Review pf Iqbāl Janah-I-Dīgar: A Collection of Iqbal's Letters to Allama Raghib Ahsan". Islamic Studies. 25 (1): 102–106 at 102. ISSN 0578-8072. Besides his larger works: Jihad for Millathood, Kitab-i Mubeen and Light from the East, he also contributed more than two hundred articles on the political and religious problems of the Muslims of the sub-continent, most of which were published in the Star of India, Calcutta …
  9. Hayat, Syed Umar; Ullah, Altaf (2017). "Allamah Raghib Ahsan and Pakistan Movement: An Assessment" (PDF). South Asian Studies. 32 (1): 239–249.
  10. The Legislative Debates (Official Report). 6. New Delhi: Government of India Press. 1934. p. 919.
  11. Fazila-Yacoobali 2006, p. 195.
  12. DiCostanzo 2012, p. 232.
  13. Dronamraju, Krishna R.; Needham, Joseph (1 June 1993). If I Am To Be Remembered: Correspondence of Julian Huxley. Singapore: World Scientific. p. 109. ISBN 978-981-4505-19-2.
  14. The Europa World Year Book. 2. London: Taylor & Francis. 29 July 2004. p. 3285. ISBN 978-1-85743-255-8.
  15. "Imran Aslam". Pakistan Herald.

Sources
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