Nasim Zehra-Moeed Pirzada row hots up

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 26 April 2023

The dispute between anchors Nasim Zehra and Moeed Pirzada intensifies as Zehra announces plans for a defamation suit. Pirzada criticized her recent television discussion, claiming it was scripted and aimed to support specific political figures.

Summary

ISLAMABAD—In a new video posted on YouTube, Pakistan’s prominent anchor Nasim Zehra reiterated Wednesday she would pursue legal recourse against analyst and presenter Moeed Pirzada.

In her short video, a calm-looking Zehra highlighted the four charges leveled against her by Pirzada during Haider Medhi’s recent vlog. “This is slander and I must respond to this,” she said.

“If you cannot understand certain things, it is better to ask,” she said addressing Pirzada.

At the start of the day, Zehra tweeted her plans of filing a defamation suit against him in a US court. Later, Pirzada hit back at her. “When has she become so sensitive & weak not to bear criticism of a substandard program & out of context discussion she conducted,” Pirzada asked on Twitter.

The row between the two prominent anchors began after Pirzada referred to Zehra’s discussion with journalist Hamid Mir on 24 News HD TV as "rubbish, deliberate and scripted."

Pirzada first spoke out against Zehra during Haider Mehdi's vlog on April 23 which prompted her to seek legal action.

“Good luck to her attorneys or those who may be encouraging her to file defamation/slander charges against me in the US,” he said, adding that he would look forward to her vlog to explain her position.

Pirzada however also had words of praise for her: “Nasim Zehra we all know is a bold journalist, a ferocious critic of others their ideas, interests & situations all her life!”

During her recent program Zehra had called for a court martial of former army chief Gen (Retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa. Hamid Mir disclosed in her show that Bajwa once told journalists the Pakistani military did not even have enough diesel to keep its tanks running. Mir also claimed that Bajwa wanted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Pakistan without the knowledge of Imran Khan's government.

Pirzada questioned who had instructed Zehra to call for Bajwa's court martial and alleged that the discussion was planned and scripted to support political figures such as Nawaz Sharif, Mohsin Naqvi, Asif Ali Zardari, and Gen. Asim Munir.

He also pointed out that three channels, including 24News HD TV, belonged to Punjab caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who has the support of Zardari and Sharif, and the army chief Gen Asim Munir.

Zehra responded to Pirzada's remarks by stating that she will file a defamation suit against him in a US court and plans to release a vlog. She added that ignoring such slanderous comments would be inexcusable.