Zamir Niazi

Zamir Niazi (1932 – 11 June 2004) was a Pakistani journalist, known for his commitment to freedom of the press.

In 1995, Niazi returned his Pride of Performance award to the government, in response to its closure of six newspapers.[1][2]

Career

Zamir Niazi began as a journalist in 1954 by joining Dawn newspaper where he also worked as a sub-editor for eight years. He then joined another Pakistani newspaper, Daily News as its chief sub-editor and lead writer in 1962. In 1965, he started working for a major business newspaper of Pakistan, the Business Recorder where he worked for 25 years in different capacities. He was its news editor, when he retired from the Business Recorder in 1990.[2]

The Press in Chains

He is best known for the book Press in Chains that was published in 1986. The book investigates press censorship in Pakistan. It documents instances of press censorship during the British colonial rule in India and during the first three decades of Pakistan's independence especially under authoritarian military governments in Pakistan.[2] This book was critically acclaimed and its several editions were published. This book was originally in English and was also translated into Urdu language.[2]

Bibliography
  • Niazi, Zamir (1986). The Press in Chains. GoogleBooks.[3]
  • Niazi, Zamir (1992). The press under siege. Karachi Press Club.[2][4]
  • Niazi, Zamir (1994). The Web of Censorship. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-577543-3.[2][4]
  • Zameen Ka Noha (Earth's Cry Of Pain) - on the subject of nuclear technology and its bad effects[2]

Awards and recognition

Death and legacy

Zamir Niazi died on 11 June 2004 at age 72 at Karachi, after being unwell for some time. He was admitted to a hospital for treatment just three days before his death. Among his survivors were his widow and two sons, Haris Zamir and Junaid Zamir.[2][4] After writing three above books on press freedom in Pakistan, he was widely considered in Pakistan to be an authority on the issue of press freedom.[2] According to a major newspaper of Pakistan, Zamir Niazi was "uncompromisingly critical of corruption and corrupting influences affecting the media" in Pakistan.[2][4][5]

On 29 June 2004, an event was arranged at the Pakistan Academy of Letters, Islamabad to pay tributes to the journalist Zamir Niazi by noted scholars and intellectuals of Pakistan including Iftikhar Arif and Tariq Rahman. It was mentioned by speakers at this event that Zamir Niazi was often called as 'Zameer' (the conscience) of Pakistani Press.[4]

References
  1. Niazi, Zamir (8 July 2010). The Press in Chains. ISBN 0195477243.
  2. "Zamir Niazi passes away". Dawn (newspaper). 12 June 2004. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  3. The Press in Chains, Zamir Niazi's book on GoogleBooks website Published on GoogleBooks on 8 July 2010, Retrieved 6 August 2019
  4. Zamir Niazi's services for freedom of expression eulogized Dawn (newspaper), Published 30 June 2004, Retrieved 5 August 2019
  5. Ihsan Aslam (16 June 2004). "Zamir Niazi's torch". Daily Times (newspaper). Archived from the original on 11 March 2007. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
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