Ahmed Waris Nizami is most certainly a pioneer of Urdu journalism in the United Kingdom. He is not only a seasoned journalist but also a political analyst, a television host and anchor for some very popular news and current affair shows; he has also practised law and specialises in UK immigration matters. In the late eighties, he was the first British Pakistani journalist to publish and edit a bilingual (Urdu/English) weekly newspaper in Manchester, perhaps first-ever such publication in the U.K. He later published the same “Friends News” in four languages (English/Urdu/Punjabi and Bengali) from Slough, Berkshire and Rochdale, Lancashire in mid-nineties. Ahmed Nizami is also a pioneer in many other fields. He was the person to edit the U.K’s first on-line Urdu/English news website “friendsnews.co.uk”. He was the first person to publish an Asian Business Directory in Greater Manchester in the early nineties. That Asian Directory project paved the way for many of today’s successful ventures which now are serving the needs of British Muslims. He was the first person, to organise quiz shows based on Pakistan television’s popular programme “Neelam Ghar”, in the North West of England to promote Pakistani culture and Urdu language. He was the founding father and first elected chairman of Pakistan Press Club Manchester in early two thousand. First-ever such professional association in the UK. Mr Nizami started many initiatives to help Pakistani journalists working in the UK and in Pakistan from the platform of Pakistan Press Club.
Ahmed Nizami is not only a career journalist but also a community activist. He has always found innovative ways to help and assist the communities, especially British Pakistanis. His editorial support in the British Pakistani media for the campaign to sort out the problem of selling Non-Halal meat as Halal meat resulted in a big shakeup and some radical reform of the billion pounds worth of UK Halal meat industry.
When Manchester’s first British Pakistani satellite television channel DM Digital was launched in 2005, Mr Nizami was appointed a non-executive director with the responsibility of advising the management on current affairs and news programmes. He not only raised the profile of Kashmir issue on this channel but he also championed the cause of uplifting the community spirit, alleviating social exclusion and poverty among British Pakistanis. He put the plight of British and other overseas Pakistanis in the limelight who are mistreated in Pakistan by the Authorities through his most daring talk show DM Talk and some other challenging programmes on this channel.
Currently (2009) Ahmed Nizami is the elected president of Overseas Pakistani Journalists Council (OPJC), which is an NGO working for the Pakistani journalists serving abroad. He is also a publisher-editor of Khalish Magazine and Khalish Online. He is also quite busy with his television and other electronic media engagements.