LAHORE: Punjab Governor Malik Muhammad Rafique Rajwana, while paying a rich tribute to the late Pakistan Movement leader, veteran journalist and founder of Nawa-i-Waqt Media Group Hameed Nizami on Friday, said that people like Hameed Nizami were an example for the people to follow.
He expressed these views at an event held by Hameed Nizami Memorial Society at Aiwan-e-Iqbal Complex to observe Hameed Nizami Day.
He said that journalists should influence the people positively in the present era and the TV channels should not refrain from speaking the truth. Instead of just broadcasting news, TV channels should present a complete picture of a story, he added.
Hameed Nizami Memorial Society President, veteran journalist, senior analyst and Pakistan Today Editor Arif Nizami thanked all the guests for attending the event held in honour of his late father and said that there were only a handful people in the entire journalist community who spoke the truth. He said that Hameed Nizami never compromised on his beliefs unlike those who spoke the truth only when it suited them. He further said that during Hameed Nizami’s era, journalism was considered to be a mission but it had transformed into a business nowadays with newspapers being valued according to the advertisements they publish. He said that championing the cause of unbiased journalism was the legacy of his late father.
Senior journalist Jamil Athar Qazi said that Hameed Nizami was a political leader who acted on the teachings of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Iqbal. He said that Hameed Nizami was a visionary who revolutionised journalism, adding that he believed that his newspaper was there to play the role of a watchman. He further said that if an editor like Hameed Nizami existed today then he would have bluntly told the politicians to behave themselves.
Senior journalist Haroonur Rasheed said that people do not become larger than life by possessing a huge kingdom because people forget the kings soon after their death. Only the ascetics and poets are successful in life and remain immortal, he added.
He said that whenever the truth is spoken, it would always have an impact.
Orya Maqbool Jan also spoke on the occasion and said that people are said to be popular when future generations love them and consider them their ideal. He said that those who showed the people the way and made things easier for them still stood tall in front of those who nowadays considered themselves successful journalists.
Senior columnist Dr Hussain Ahmed Paracha said that Hameed Nizami accomplished in 45 years what people could not achieve in centuries.
He said that Hameed Nizami used to challenge the ‘pharaohs’ of his time and spoke the truth courageously. He went to streets and alleys and declared that no power on earth could stop Pakistan from being created because he considered journalism to be a mission whereas journalists nowadays were only after wealth, he added.
He further said that Quaid-e-Azam had asked Hameed Nizami to become a member of the National Assembly but he refused the offer and asked for his guidance instead.
Justice (r) M R Kayani also paid a rich tribute to Hameed Nizami and said that he had only two regrets in life. The first was that before dying, his father had asked him to stay with him a little longer but he could not do so and the second was that he could not spend enough time with Hameed Nizami.
Lahore Press Club President Azam Chaudhry said that Hameed Nizami was a visionary who established Nawa-i-Waqt not as an organisation but as an institution of learning.
He said that Hameed Nizami was a visionary and worked for the cause of democracy throughout his life.
Hameed Nizami Memorial Society General Secretary Irshad Ahmad Arif thanked the guests on behalf of the society and said that after the creation of Pakistan, Hameed Nizami raised his voice against the division of wealth and property between the people.
He said that Hameed Nizami was against all forms of corruption and if the people actually lived by his teachings, Pakistan would have been a different country.
