Hameed Nizami was born on October 3, 1915 at Sangla Hill, a small railway junction not far from Faisalabad. He received his early education locally and did his Master's in English from the University of the Punjab, Lahore.
Hameed Nizami
Hameed Nizami was born on October 3, 1915 at Sangla Hill, a small railway junction not far from Faisalabad. He received his early education locally and did his Master's in English from the University of the Punjab, Lahore. He was a self-made man and his early life was a great struggle. While still a student at Islamia College, Lahore, he founded, along with others, the Punjab Muslim Students Federation and became its first elected President.
Due to his dynamic role as a student leader, he became close to the Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and remained an ardent follower of him and the Muslim League, first as a student leader and later as a journalist.
After attaining his degree, he chose journalism as his career and worked for a short time in the Press branch of the Punjab Government. After receiving training under a scheme sponsored by the Punjab Government, he became the Manager of Lahore Office of the Orient News Agency and used the resources of the Orient News Agency for the projection of the Muslim League’s point of view and for helping the cause of Pakistan.
The year 1940 was something of a landmark in the life of Hameed Nizami when he launched his fortnightly paper called Nawa-i-Waqt from Lahore on March 23, 1940. He was elected President of the Punjab Muslim Student’s Federations for the second time in 1942. He was able to convert his fortnightly Nawa-i-Waqt into a Weekly, a newspaper with which his name will remain associated for ever.
On December 15, 1942 the Nawa-i-Waqt became a Weekly. Later on, on July 19, 1944 it was converted into a daily paper. The daily Nawa-i-Waqt came out on July 22, 1944 with a prayer and a message of the Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Hameed Nizami made Nawa-i-Waqt with all its limitations a powerful newspaper for the cause of Muslim League and the Pakistan Movement.
Hameed Nizamai was a clear headed, methodical and devoted journalist. With these qualities he made himself a legend. He rendered a lofty service for the cause of Pakistan during the entire period of Pakistan Movement and, later, for the stability of Pakistan. He was a strong spokesman of democracy in the country. The first Martial Law of 1958 greatly hurt him, which proved fatal for his life and he departed in February 1962.