Bank account of journalist Kashif Abbasi’s wife frozen

ISLAMABAD: The bank account of prominent Pakistani television anchor Kashif Abbasi’s wife has been frozen on the orders of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Abbasi revealed on Wednesday.

Taking to X, Kashif Abbasi Abbasi wrote: “My wife went to the bank to operate her account today and she was told it’s frozen as per FIA orders. My name is on the block/no-fly list for months. This is absurd. Have we lost our citizenship rights in this country?”

My wife went to the bank to operate her account today and she was told it’s frozen as per FIA orders,my name is on block/nofly list for months. This is absurd. Have we lost our citizenship rights in this country

— Kashif Abbasi (@Kashifabbasiary) September 17, 2025

Kashif’s wife, Mehr Bukhari, is a herself a senior Pakistani journalist, currently hosting a talk show “Dunya Meher Bokhari Kay Sath.”

Abbasi is one of Pakistan’s most recognised journalists and hosted ARY News’ primetime talk show ‘Off The Record’ for many years.

Why Kashif Abbasi was taken off-air?

On March 3 this year, viewers of Off The Record were surprised to see anchor Ashfaq Satti hosting the programme instead of Abbasi.

Speculation about his absence had already been rife since 21 January, when Abbasi delivered a scathing monologue criticising the ruling coalition and the country’s power politics.

In the 21 January episode, Abbasi had said that “power politics has caused the greatest harm to this country.”

He alleged that the Constitution had been “murdered and buried” and that all major political players were complicit. He further remarked: “We are a nation so unfortunate that even the sanctity of privacy and honour is violated for political gain.”

Now that our score in the air is 6-0, I thought it’s time for me to fly too but a question: why am I on the no fly/block list?
I had, nor have any intention of leaving my country. With no work, a little travelling would be fun 🙂

— Kashif Abbasi (@Kashifabbasiary) May 12, 2025

Abbasi also alleged that it had become “normal practice” to abduct women and children from their homes for political purposes.

Channel distances itself from Abbasi’s remarks

ARY News not only took Abbasi off-air but also issued an on-air apology during the next broadcast of Off The Record.

Anchor Ashfaq Satti told viewers that the previous episode aired on 21 January 2025 contained views expressed by the host in his personal capacity, which do not reflect the stance of the channel. Nevertheless, if anyone was hurt by those comments, the channel apologises.

Kashif Abbasi was not alone, a few other senior journalists, including Habib Akram of Suno News and Talat Hussain of Samaa TV, were also taken off-air in the early months of this year.