LAHORE: A condolence reference for (late) Arif Nizami, who was a renowned journalist, analyst and anchorperson of the country, was held by the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) at Aiwan-i-Iqbal on Friday.
Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar, Pakistan Today Editor Yousaf Nizami (son of Arif Nizami), Asad Nizami, CPNE members, including eminent journalist Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Shami, Imtiaz Alam, Irshad Arif, Kazim Khan and Jameel Athar Qazi, and other journalists and social personalities participated in the reference.
Addressing the participants, Imtiaz Alam recalled his time with Arif Nizami and said that Nizami was a great journalist with a great personality.
“Arif had an identity of his own and he had built this identity on the basis of his ability. He was a progressive journalist as it can be gauged from the fact that when he was the editor of The Nation, the difference between the editorials of Nawai-e-Waqt and The Nation had showed how progressive he was. Arif was a friend of many politicians, but he never stopped speaking the truth. He was a great reporter and never compromised on his dignity. Arif had always opposed military dictatorship and talked about freedom of expression and the supremacy of democracy,” Alam said.
CPNE Vice President Kazim Khan said that he had a close relationship with Arif for some time and learnt a lot from him.
“I had a very close relationship with him [Arif Nizami] and his family for the last four or five years. When Arif was ill, former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif wanted to visit him. In this regard, he called me and told me that he wants to meet him, but when I asked Arif, he said he doesn’t want people to know that he is sick. Similarly, on the day of Arif’s death, when I asked Babar Nizami [nephew of Arif Nizami] to take a picture before burial, Babar said that Arif wanted no such picture to be taken of him in which cotton have been given in his ears because people have always seen him in fresh look. Arif certainly disagreed with people but did not hate them. He never criticised the journalistic skills of his seniors. He was a very elegant man,” Khan said.
Politician and lawyer Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan in his speech said that the death of Arif Nizami was a loss for the whole country and the nation, and it was a great shock to him. He added that the gap created by Arif’s departure will hardly be filled.
Ahsan also narrated an incident regarding media censorship during the Gen Zia-ul-Haq dictatorship, in which Nizami had set new trends.
“News stories, which were not liked by the dictators during Zia’s tenure, were not allowed to be published. In those days, newspapers had manual page making. One day when a news story was taken down from Nawai-e-Waqt, Arif suggested to Majeed Nizami that instead of replacing the news, that part of the paper should be published blankly so that the people could know that the news in this blank part was dropped by the dictator. When the newspaper was printed the next day, Arif received phone calls from various military officers, asking him why he had left a blank space in the newspaper. To this, Arif replied that you people had just asked to take down the news and not to post another one. After that, the same practice started in all the newspapers,” he said.
Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Shami said that Nizami was the great son of a great father, but he had built his identity on the basis of his ability.
“He was an investigative reporter and his ideal was his father. He never let his likes and dislikes affect his journalism. He was an informed, knowledgeable and competent journalist and he was well known to face the effects of publishing news. The government should also give a medal to Arif Nizami in recognition of his services and a road should be named after him,” Shami suggested.
Speaking on the occasion, the son of Arif Nizami, Yousuf Nizami, said that he considers himself lucky to have worked with a professional journalist like Arif Nizami for some time.
“I learnt a lot from my father. I consider it my good fortune that I got the opportunity to work with Arif Nizami and I am sorry that I did not get the opportunity to work for long. He was as committed to his family life as he was to his professional life. He considered his friends as an asset of life and he taught us that we should be helpful to our friends in every way. His advice was correct because after his death, his friends and colleagues from all over the world called and expressed their grief over his death. He never compromised on his principles. He never let others feel his pain although he had seen good and bad times in life. Behind Arif Nizami, his wife took care of everyone like a good wife and mother,” he said.
At the end of the ceremony, the Punjab governor also addressed the participants and recalled his memories with Arif Nizami.
