Sultan Mahmood, the father of Pakistani journalism in Britain, died on 23 April, aged 67.
Sultan, a member of one of the most influential families in Pakistan, came to Britain in 1960 and settled in Birmingham.
He set up the first national newspaper to be published in Urdu in Britain, Mashriq (The East).
Sultan
also published the first glossy Urdu magazine, which was printed at a
local press, but manually collated and stapled together by his young
family in the kitchen of their home, to save costs.
In the 1970s,
Sultan was a regular contributor to the Birmingham Evening Mail as its
special correspondent for ethnic affairs. He also freelanced for the
Daily Express.
For more than 20 years, Sultan was the UK bureau
chief of the Daily Nawaiwaqt and Daily Nation, Pakistan’s biggest
selling publications.
He also made a huge contribution to the local community, serving as a magistrate on the Birmingham bench since 1977.
During
his long career, Sultan travelled the world covering stories and
interviewed endless presidents, prime ministers, sportsmen and
celebrities.
His last assignment was a Foreign Office trip to Iraq, where he reported on the state of British troops.
Sultan also wrote five books, one of which forms part of the Urdu journalism syllabus.
His active life was tragically cut short when he was diagnosed with cancer of the gallbladder six weeks ago.
More than 2,000 people attended Sultan’s funeral services, which were held in both Birmingham and Pakistan.
His body was laid to rest at his family shrine in Lahore last week by his son, Mazher.
Sultan leaves his wife Shamim, a fellow Pakistani journalist, and two sons, Mazher and Waseem.
Mazher Mahmood, investigations editor, News of the World
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