Pakistan Day: Martyred Jang Group reporter Malik Mumtaz awarded Sitara-e-Shujaat

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: Jang Group reporter Malik Mumtaz, a journalist from North Waziristan who was martyred in a targeted attack back in 2013, has been awarded the Sitara-e-Shujaat — Star of Bravery — at the Pakistan Day awards ceremony held at the President House.

Malik Mumtaz, who was associated with Geo/Jang Group, always highlighted and wrote about public issues from the platform of Pakistan's top news channel. His son, Sulaiman Khan, received the Sitara-e-Shujaat award from President Dr Arif Ali.

The Geo/Jang journalist was returning home to Miranshah from a nearby village on February 27, 2013, when unknown assailants opened fire on his car, killing him on the spot near the Chashma bridge.

The senior journalist had been elected the Miranshah Press Club's president just before his untimely death. He is survived by his two sons and daughter.

Malik Mumtaz graduated from Gomal University in Dera Ismail Khan and remained associated with the Geo/Jang Group for almost two decades. Reporting from the lawless tribal areas of Pakistan, he was a well-respected journalist whose work was unbiased and accurate.

Among the politicians who had condemned the attack on him were Prime Minister Imran Khan, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, PML-N leader Pervaiz Rasheed, then-Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and MQM-P chief Altaf Hussain.