Think Fest

Dr Yaqoob Khan Bangash is a historian of Modern South Asia. His current research interests lie in the emergence of Pakistan as a post-colonial state, with broader interests in decolonisation, modern state formation, formation of identities, and the emergence of ethnic and identity based conflicts. Dr Bangash’s first book was published by Oxford University Press as, ‘A Princely Affair: Accession and Integration of Princely States in Pakistan, 1947-55,’ in 2015, and he has recently completed another book: ‘Between the Sword and the Pen: The History of the Lahore High Court.’ Furthermore, he is currently working on a monograph on the imagination of Pakistan as a country after its creation, using the debates of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan (1947—56) as primary material. Since, 2017, Dr Bangash is also the Director of the Punjab Archives Digitisation Project, which aims to make accessible the vast archive in the Punjab spanning over three hundred years.

Dr Bangash has received several grants and honours including a Senior Fellowship at the Religious Freedom Institute (USA), Fellowship of the Presbyterian Historical Society (USA), David M. Stowe Research Fellowship at Yale (USA) and the American Academy of Religion Collaborative Grant (USA). He also regularly writes for The News, Daily Times, The Express Tribune and other newsmedia. 

Dr Bangash completed his BA from the University of Notre Dame, IN, USA, and his DPhil from the University of Oxford. Currently, he is Director, Centre for Governance and Policy, at Information Technology University, Lahore, Pakistan.

Mr Najam Sethi is a man who has worn various hats during his decades of public service. Born in Lahore, he went to Government College, followed by an MA from Clare College, Cambridge. While he was pursuing a PhD, he was attracted to join the Baloch and Pashtun resistance against the ZA Bhutto government that was bent on denying provincial rights, leading to his arrest in 1975. In 1978 he established Vanguard Books as a publisher of progressive books. In 1989 his wife Jugnu Mohsin and he set up The Friday Times as an independent weekly. In 1990, he became the Pakistan Correspondent of The Economist London. In 2002, Sethi became the founding editor of The Daily Times, which made its mark in investigative journalism. Sethi has also had a regular TV show, Aapis ki Baat, on GEO TV.

In 2013, Mr Najam Sethi became the interim Chief Minister of the Punjab, mandated to carry out elections in the province, the first after a completion of a full tenure by an elected government. Subsequently, he became the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board and is credited with bringing international cricket back to Pakistan. Sethi also founded the Pakistan Super League in 2015 which reinvigourated cricket in the country.

Over the years Mr Najam Sethi has won numerous awards and accolades. In 1999, he won the International Press Freedom Award, followed by the Golden Pen of Freedom Award in 2009. In 2011, he was awarded one of the highest civil awards in Pakistan, the Hilal-e-Imtiaz, by the President of Pakistan.

Presently, Mr Sethi is the President of the AAP/Indus TV network.

Dr. Miftah Ismail has served as Federal Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs. Previously he has served as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Economic Affairs as well as Chairman of the Federal Board of Investment and the Privitization Commission. He has also been Chairman of the Sui Southern Gas Company and a director of PIA. He’s also served as head of the Punjab Board of Investment and Trade.

Dr. Miftah Ismail holds a PhD in Public Finance and Political Economy from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania. A professional economist, Dr. Miftah Ismail has worked as an economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Mr. Ismail was also CEO and Director at Ismail Industries Ltd, Pakistan’s largest confectionery company. Dr. Miftah Ismail has also been President of Karachi American School and a visiting faculty at IBA.