PFUJ pays rich tribute to Nisar Osmani

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) paid rich tributes to one of the most brilliant and brave journalists of Pakistan, Nisar Osmani, says a press release. PFUJ President Afzal Butt and Secretary-General Arshad Ansari, while recounting his services for the cause of journalism and his fight for journalists’ rights and press freedom, said that he would never be forgotten in all times to come.

“Nisar Osmani was a man of principle with an unbending passion for press freedom and rights of the downtrodden segments of society,” they said, adding that he was a beacon of light for the entire community, as he never surrendered, even during the worst of times, including the dictatorship of General Zia-ul-Haq. “We shall follow the footsteps of Nisar Osmani and uphold standards of journalism and media freedom, set by our seniors as we are duty-bound to safeguard those standards,” they added.

He joined Dawn as a stringer in 1953 and became bureau chief when Dawn established its full-fledged bureau in Lahore. He retired in 1991 but remained associated with the newspaper as a special correspondent.

Nisar Osmani emerged as an upright progressive journalist and trade unionist during the Ayub era (1960s). He was elected to various offices including president of Punjab Union of Journalists and PFUJ. He was a founder member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and had been its vice-chairman and was on its council.

For his fearless criticism of the governments of the day, Nisar Osmani was sent behind bars a number of times. For three distinct periods of Pakistan’s current history, the Ayub era, Z.A. Bhutto’s rule and then General Ziaul Haq’s decade of martial law, Nisar Osmani’s stentorian voice continued to echo above various others in newspaper columns and with rulers’ encounters with the press.