JournalismPakistan.com | Published June 17, 2012
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KARACHI: For the past few days all the attention has been focused on the scandal involving the leak of Dunya TV’s ‘fixed interview’ of property magnate Malik Riaz by Mubashar Lucqman and Meher Bukhari as well as a leaked ‘List of 19’ who allegedly received favors from Malik, one man has managed to keep a low profile.
Kashif Abbasi, the host of ARY TV’s ‘Off the Record’ and the husband of the besieged Meher Bukhari has expertly dropped off the radar. But he did appear on Dunya TV to defend his spouse.
He is not on the ‘List of 19’ and this has encouraged people to wonder if he ‘knew’ about the staged interview beforehand.
There have been veiled references on the social media forums and groups as to his alleged involvement, but these remain vague and unaccounted for.
Kashif, who has had his run in with difficult customers before, including the MQM, was recently again in a bit of a spot when his program was cut short while he had Khawaja Saad Rafiq of the PMLN on his show.
Saad Rafiq had questioned the credibility of media anchors and asked him why they always act as judges.
Industry insiders, however, are whispering that the damage caused by the Riaz interview is likely to affect Kashif and Meher’s careers as well as personal lives. The two got married in November 2011.
According to details of the ‘List of 19’, on which Meher features, she received Rs50 lakh as a wedding gift from Malik Riaz.
“Kashif is incommunicado,” said one of his colleagues at ARY. “We are feeling sorry for him. This was not of his making.”
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