On Saturday, a grand ceremony was organised in Lahore in the honour Mr Majid Nizami, Editor-in-Chief of Daily Nawa-i-Waqt. It was attended by well known personalities, besides members of the civil society. Undoubtedly, very few people are honoured as a living legend during their lifetime for their work. Mr Nizami is one of them, indeed!
He has earned great respect at the national level and wields a lot of power without holding any high office in the government. Despite the fact that he was offered high governmental positions, such as the President and Governor Punjab, he preferred to stick to his post as Nawa-i-Waqt’s editor. Thus, the latest event marked his 70 years of service to the nation as a journalist and 50 years as editor.
Mr Nizami’s lifelong mission to accomplish the vision of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, which was the establishment of an Islamic, democratic, welfare state, has been the driving force behind all his efforts as a worker of the Pakistan Movement, following in the footsteps of his late brother Hameed Nizami. As Nawa-i-Waqt’s editor, his pen had turned into a sword.
Later, a more powerful engine was added to the Nizami struggle: Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust of which he is Chairman. It added a new chapter to the renaissance of the Pakistan Movement in the second half of the 20th century. After its establishment, the focus of Mr Nizami’s mission was to seek a formula for the unification of various factions of the Muslim League into one political party - i.e. Pakistan Muslim League - that could claim to be the true, legitimate heir of the Quaid’s League.
According to the schedule, both Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif and PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain were invited. Keeping this in view, it was expected that the ice would melt between the two leaders. However, unfortunately, it did not happen because of the CM’s last minute engagement and so he was represented by Sindh PML-N President Syed Ghous Ali Shah. But, Shujaat availed the opportunity and presented his formula for the unification of the Muslim League factions into a strong political force to deal with the present internal and external challenges facing Pakistan. Certainly, he is an astute politician.
The PML-Q President first advanced his formula on the present energy crisis and then discussed the issue of the Muslim League’s unification. He, wisely and rightly, suggested that the heads of all factions should withdraw in favour of Mr Nizami’s leadership to form a United Muslim League; that was well appreciated equally by the guests and the audience, and received with great applause. To Shujaat’s suggestion Ghous had no plausible answer.
Mr Nizami in his concluding remarks, while urging all Muslim League factions to ponder over the issue and seek a unanimous solution, had to concede the fact that Shujaat had always volunteered for any unification formula suggested by him or late Pir of Pagaro. But the PML-N President has had some reservations about the proposal. Nevertheless, it is important to realise that the leadership of the Leagues’ should join hands and work in collaboration in the interest of the country and people.
As a final word, Mr Nizami has and, hopefully, will continue to play his role to save Pakistan by trying to turn the vision of Iqbal and Jinnah into a reality, and make it a truly Islamic democratic and welfare state.
n The writer is President of the Pakistan National Forum.
Email: ikramullahkhan1@yahoo.com