Moneir Aslam

She gave Pakistani women an hour of their own on PTV, every night. The programme was called Khawateen Times. Its creator was Muneeza Hashmi. Born 1946 in Shimla. Raised in lahore. Younger daughter of Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Alys Faiz. Kinnaird College, a master's from the University of the Punjab, and a second master's in education from the University of Hawaii in 1981. She joined PTV in 1967 as an assistant producer. Her father's name opened no doors she didn't push herself. She still says she got the job on a sifarish. People with anti-Faiz sentiments tried to victimise her. Promotions were delayed. ACRs were messed up. Foreign trips were held back. She survived. Over more than 40 years in media. Became General Manager of PTV Lahore in 1998. The first woman to hold the post. The first woman Director of Programmes at PTV. She held the role when she retired in 2004. Introduced gender training programmes. Produced a UNDP-PTV documentary on the portrayal of women in the media. Restricted the showing of violence against women on PTV. Raised bold issues about women's rights, which she says was not easy. Launched PTV World from Lahore, and saw the station earn record revenue. Joined HUM TV in 2005 as General Manager of International Relations. She also acted in Pakistan's first English-language feature film, Beyond the Last Mountain (1976), and as a human rights activist in Haseena Moin's Paani Per Likha Tha (1993). In 2010 she was elected President of the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association, the first Pakistani and, in its 60-year history, the only woman to hold the post. In April 2012, at the Brisbane conference, she was unanimously re-elected, with no one from the other 67 member countries standing against her. She served three terms. She later returned as board president when it became the Public Media Alliance. In 2013 she held the first Benazir Bhutto Chair for Peace, Reconciliation and Development at Lahore College for Women University. In 2019 she became the first woman to chair the Lahore Arts Council's board of governors. Trustee of the Faiz Foundation and main organiser of the Faiz Festival Lahore, and is Creative Media Head at the Kashf Foundation. She wrote Kaun Hoon Main? (2014), interviews with notable Pakistani women, and Conversations with My Father (2022). Pride of Performance, 2003. NHK's President's Prize, 2015. Faiz sang of a world where women have a voice. She put one on air. Muneeza Hashmi. Pakistan Zindabad. 🇵🇰