Mumtaz Hamid Rao (16 June 1941 in Sialkot, Pakistan – 8 November 2011 in Rawalpindi) was a notable Pakistani electronic media journalist and analyst.
He was the son of a well-known Kashmiri freedom movement fighter and journalist Abdul Hamid Nizami, who was also noted for his work as the Director of the Sericulture Department.
Education
Mumtaz Hamid Rao got his early education from Murray College in Sialkot and later at the University of Punjab, where he earned a law degree.
Career
Mumtaz Hamid Rao was selected as the first news editor and reporter after PTV began broadcasting on November 26, 1964, and he retired as its Director of News and Current Affairs.
Rao founded Pakistan’s first daily online newspaper, Pakistan Times, as Editor-In-Chief in 2001.
He has also been in charge of a number of journalistic courses at PTV. In 1979, he travelled throughout Europe studying various European network systems and completed a four-month attachment with the BBC.
Death
Mumtaz Hamid Rao died on November 8, 2011, after a brief illness. His survivors include his widow and four sons.
Former Azad Kashmir Prime Ministers Chaudhry Abdul Majeed and Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry both expressed shock and grief at Mumtaz Hamid Rao’s death. They both described his death as a major loss to the Pakistani journalism community, and especially to the Kashmir liberation struggle.