Nationality British Pakistani Role Journalist | Name Romail Gulzar Books Before Depart | |
Born December 17, 1974 (age 49) ( 1974-12-17 ) Lahore, Pakistan | ||
Prime Talk (303) || Toronto Curry Awards 2019 || Romail Gulzar
Romail Gulzar (born 17 December 1974 in Lahore, Pakistan) is Managing Editor of Pukaar News UK LTD and Pukaar Magazine. As well as his managerial roles, he is a video broadcast journalist for the agency, covering local and international stories that are distributed to multiple news outlets including BBC News, ITV Central, and ITN.
Contents
Gulzar can speak Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu fluently; he can also speak English to a full professional proficiency. He is a British Pakistani Christian and works to support many charities.
Journey
Romail Gulzar was born in Lahore, Pakistan, where he left when very young to move to Dubai and finally the UK where he has lived for the past fifteen years. In 2000, Gulzar travelled to England to seek safety from persecution in Pakistan and he was granted refugee status in 2002. During his early years in Britain he experienced first-hand the hostility many refugees faced and due to these traumatic experiences he created the company Pukaar Project Southampton which became a charity funded organisation sought to bridge the gap between different ethnic communities through music. The project held curry evenings, music workshops, and the band of 10 players performed at live events.
Alongside his charity work Gulzar looked for a job within the journalism sector in Southampton. When he initially applied for jobs he got laughed away, people struggled to see his passion and knowledge for journalism due to the language barriers. He did, however, manage to get a job as a ‘tea boy’ within the local community radio station, Unity 24, where he got his break when a presenter could not make it into work one day awarding the rookie with the opportunity to go on live radio. He was awarded a certificate of appreciation for his valuable contribution to the radio channel as he became a regular presenter during his time at the station. In 2010 Romail moved to Leicester to start a new chapter within his life. When moving to Leicester he brought with him his independent news agency renamed as Pukaar News which was founded in 2005.
Pukaar Magazine, launched in 2011, is produced in quarterly editions. The magazine is available free of charge in many outlets in Leicester.
Gulzar is a music enthusiast alongside his ever growing career and has performed in many Punjabi musical performances.
Achievements
He has received many awards throughout his career. An area that he has been most recognised for is his charity and voluntary work during his time in the UK. In 2005 Romail was invited to meet former British Prime Minister Tony Blair from whom he received the Special Appreciation at St James' Place, London. Six months later he received the Award for Voluntary Endeavor from Nationwide Building Society, and a further three months on he received the UnLtd Millennium Award. In April 2015, Gulzar was appointed as the first Asian Chairman of the Leicestershire and Rutland Crimestoppers Trust; he has been a volunteer for the past three years. During his time at Crimestoppers he has been awarded for his commitment and valuable contribution to the charity. Crimestoppers UK is an independent charity that aims to fight crime within local communities with the help of local residents and professionals.
Romail Gulzar has written a book, Before Depart, which is written in Urdu and was published in 2007. The writer is currently working on his second book title 'The Endless Journey' which will be printed in Urdu and English. Romail is passionate about news and media, even though he can read and write very little English, even with this disability he still manages to run Pukaar News independent news agency.