Jugnu Mohsin is a Pakistani journalist and politician. Mohsin is a member of the Women’s Action Forum in Pakistan. She is a co-founder of a newsweekly named The Friday Times and a publishing company, Vanguard Books.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Syeda Maimanat Mohsin was born on 19 September 1959 (age 64 years; as of 2023), in Lahore, Pakistan. She completed her schooling at the Convent of Jesus and Mary, Lahore. She completed a Bachelor of Law at the University of Cambridge in 1980. In 1984, she pursued a post-graduation degree at the University of Cambridge. In London, she was called to Bar at Gray’s Inn (one of the four Inns of Court-professional associations for barristers and judges) to practise.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 5″
Hair Colour: Dark Brown
Eye Colour: Dark Brown
Family
Jugnu Mohsin belongs to a Punjabi (Pakistan) Muslim family.
Parents & Siblings
Jugnu Mohsin’s father’s name is Syed Muhammad Mohsin, who died on 12 July 2022, and her mother’s name is Sitwat Mohsin, who died in April 2022.
Jugnu Mohsin’s father, Syed Muhammad Mohsin
Jugnu Mohsin’s mother, Sitwat Mohsin
She has a brother named Syed Mehdi Mohsin and a sister named Moni Mohsin, a British-Pakistani writer.
Jugnu Mohsin’s brother, Syed Mehdi Mohsin
Jugnu Mohsin’s sister, Moni Mohsin
Husband & Children
She married Najam Sethi, a Pakistani journalist, businessman and cricket administrator. She met him while pursuing a master’s degree at the University of Cambridge and got married in 1983. They have a son named Ali Sethi who is a singer and a daughter named Mira Sethi who is an actress.
Jugnu Mohsin with her husband, Najam Sethi
Jugnu Mohsin’s son, Ali Sethi and daughter, Mira Sethi
Other Relatives
Her uncle, Syed Zulfiqar Bokhari was a politician and a bureaucrat who served as an ambassador of Pakistan to Spain. He was the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board from 1995 to 1998. He died on 4 January 2019.
Jugnu Mohsin’s uncle, Syed Zulfiqar Bokhari
Her other uncle, Syed Iftikhar Bokhari was a politician and a cricketer. He was a member of the Senate of Pakistan from March 1988 to 1991. He played cricket for more than a decade from 1951 to 1967 and he died on 10 November 2021.
Jugnu Mohsin’s uncle, Syed Iftikhar Bokhari
Her cousin, Syed Fakhar Imam is a politician who was the 11th Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan from 1985 to 1986. He has worked as the Chairman of Pakistan’s Parliamentary Special Committee on Kashmir. From April 2020 to 2022, he was the Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, in Pakistan.
Jugnu Mohsin’s cousin, Syed Fakhar Imam
Her other cousin, Syeda Abida Hussain was the first woman diplomat appointed as the Pakistan Ambassador to the United States in 1991. She joined Pakistan Muslim League political party in 1985. She was the Minister of Food and Agriculture and Population Control from 1997 to 1999.
Jugnu Mohsin’s cousin, Syeda Abida Hussain
Her niece, Syeda Sughra Imam is a politician and was a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party in Punjab, Pakistan.
Jugnu Mohsin’s niece, Syeda Sughra Imam
Religion/Religious Views
She follows the Muslim religion.
Address
H.No.30-C, FCC, Syed Maratab Ali Road, Gulberg-4, Lahore, Pakistan
Career
Journalist
Since 1989, she is working as a publisher and editor at The Friday Times. From 2016 to 2017, she worked as a news anchor at the Pakistani news channel Geo TV. In 2018, she worked as a news anchor at a Pakistani news channel, ARY News. She has hosted a weekly talk show named Jugnu.
A screengrab of Jugnu Mohsin as a news anchor at ARY News channel
Politician
She contested the 2018 elections from the PP-184 Okara district constituency independently and won the elections with 62506 votes. She became an independent member of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab, and her tenure ended on 14 January 2023. In March 2021, she joined Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) political party.
Jugnu Mohsin during a meeting with Pakistan Muslim League Leader Nawaz Sharif
Controversies
Kidnapping Of Her Husband
In May 1999, Mohsin’s husband, Najam Sethi was arrested by Punjab Police without a warrant. As per reports, eight armed officers broke into their house, tied Mohsin and locked her into a room and arrested her husband. She started protests and ran campaigns on The Friday Times to release her husband.
Jugnu Mohsin during the protest to free her husband, Najam Sethi
The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists and The World Bank president, James Wolfensohn also wrote a letter to Nawaz Sharif to release Najam Sethi. In June 1999, Sethi was released as the evidence fell short to prove the charges of “condemnation of the creation of the State and advocacy of the abolition of its sovereignty” and “promoting enmity between different groups” put on by the government.
Attempt to Assisnate
In June 2021, Mohsin was attacked by an unidentified gunman after her rally in Punjab’s Jhuj Kalan. It was reported that she was getting death threats on social media for not attending this rally but she attended it anyhow. After attending the rally, her vehicle was attacked, stones were thrown and a gunman shot at her; according to the FIR registered she was safe and the main attacker was on the run after shooting at Mohsin. [1]ANI
Awards, Honours, Achievements
- Mohsin was awarded International Press Freedom Award by the Committee to Protect Journalists in 1999.
Jugnu Mohsin at the 1999 International Press Freedom Award by the Committee to Protect Journalists
Facts/Trivia
- Mohsin has written satirical columns like “Dim and authoritarian personality,” “Mush and Bush,” and “his intolerance of Dissent” about political personalities like Pervez Musharraf, Nawaz Sharif, and George W. Bush.
- She opposed the entry of Imran Khan in politics and publish a satire on him in October 2011. ((India Today))
