How did Pakistan’s ace investigative journalist end up working at a US grocery store?

LAHORE – Ahmad Noorani is one of the finest investigative journalists of Pakistan and has been in the headlines for his investigative reporting on the most powerful figures of the country.

Noorani worked more than a decade for the investigative unit of The News International in Islamabad, one of Pakistan’s largest English-language newspapers.

He faced strict censorship in Pakistan and was repeatedly threatened to stop reporting on Pakistan’s powerful military, civilian ruling elite and their families. 

Noorani survived a nearly-fatal attack in 2017 and was forced to move to the United States. He again hit the headlines in 2022 when he published an investigative report on the assets owned by Pakistan’s former army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and his family. 

Later, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) initiated a case against Noorani and fellow journalist Shahid Aslam, who allegedly helped the former in getting tax details of the former general. Aslam was arrested for illegally accessing the tax record of General Bajwa and his family. 

Now a photo of Noorani has surfaced on social media, showing him working at a grocery store in the United States. This photo has been widely shared on social media, with some making fun of him and others praising him for choosing hard work over bribe allegedly given to journalists in Pakistan by the political parties and military officials. 

https://twitter.com/NajamBajwaa/status/1721529370353795124

Noorani is not the first journalist who was intimidated and forced to leave Pakistan. In recent past, Arshad Sharif, a well-known investigative journalist, had to leave the country. He was killed in Kenya in mysterious circumstances. 

Slain Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif honoured with 2023 Press Freedom Award

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