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Renowned Urdu critic and scholar Prof Dr Shamim Hanfi from India and eminent author and Urdu scholar Prof Dr Moinuddin Aqeel from Pakistan have been named winners of the Silver Jubilee Aalmi Frogh-e-Urdu Adab Awards (international awards for promotion of Urdu literature ) for the year 2021.
The annual awards, instituted in 1996 by Majlis-e-Frogh-e-Urdu Adab, a world-renowned Qatar-based Urdu literary organisation, will be presented to the winners at a function to be held in Doha in October or November this year, subject to approval from competent authorities.
The award carries a cash prize of Rs150,000 and a gold medal for each winner. It is given every year to a fiction writer and/or research scholar and/or a critic, one each from Pakistan and India, for their significant contribution towards the promotion of Urdu language and literature.
Chairman of Majlis Mohammad Atiq said the award winners were unanimously chosen recently by two independent juries comprising reputed Urdu scholars in New Delhi and Lahore. Both meetings were conducted online.
The Indian jury comprised Padma Bhushan Prof Dr Gopi Chand Narang, former Chairman of Sahitya Academy, India and an outstanding critic, researcher and intellectual as Chairman while Prof Shafey Kidwai, Chander Bhan Khayal, Nawaid Anjum and Haqqani Al Qasmi were the members.
The Pakistani panel was headed by renowned scholar, critic, researcher and poet Prof Dr Khurshid Rizvi with Prof Fateh Mohammad Malik, Prof Dr Tehsin Firaqi and Prof Dr Zahid Munir Aamir as members.
Announcing the award, Dr Narang said that Shamim Hanfi is recognised as an outstanding critic and intellectual of the present times. “He has rendered invaluable services for the Urdu language and literature. Hanfi has been given this award for his overall literary and critical works,” he noted.
Dr Hanfi was born in Sultanpur, UP on November 17, 1938. His early life was spent in Sultanpur but he had to move to Allahabad for studies, where he came in contact with Firaq saheb, who left a profound impression upon him. After getting MA and D.Phil degrees from Allahabad University in 1962 and 1967, he got D.Litt degree from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in 1976. His teaching career started at AMU. He joined Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi in 1976 from where he retired a few years ago. Jamia has honoured and retained him with the title of Professor Emeritus.
Dr Hanfi is an Urdu critic, dramatist, historian, poet and a proponent of modernist movement in Urdu literature. His books on modernism include Jadidiyat Ki Falsafiana Asaas and Nai She’ri Rawayat. His other books on ‘criticism’ include Ghazal Ka Manzarnama, Kahani Ke Paanch Rang, Firaq, Shair-wa-Shakhs, Dayar-e-Shab Ka Musafir, Iqbal Ka Harf-e-Tamanna, Ghalib Ki Takhleeqi Haissiyet, and Tareekh Tehzeeb Aur Takhleeqi Tajreba. He presently resides in New Delhi and serves as patron to many literary societies and organisations like Ghalib Academy, Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu Hind, Ghalib Institute and Rekhta.
He has written many papers, 100 in India and 50 abroad, which have been published in referred journals. He has published 50 papers in conferences, seminars and workshops in India and 20 abroad. He has written 20 books on criticism, translated five books from other languages, and written four plays and five books for children. He has travelled to severalcountries including Pakistan, Germany, the USA, Qatar, Bahrain and Mauritius, to attend conferences, seminars and meetings.
In recognition of his services to Urdu language and literature, he has been honoured with Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Award, West Bengal’s Pervaiz Shahidi Award, Delhi’s Urdu Academy Award, Ghalib Award, etc.
Prof Dr Moinuddin Aqeel, the award winner from Pakistan, was born on June 25, 1946 in India. He is among the most eminent Urdu scholars and writers of literature, history and culture of the Muslims of South Asia and is widely considered as an invaluable academic asset.
He passed his Matric examination from Government High School, Landhi, Karachi in 1963, intermediate examination from Urdu College, Karachi in 1965, BA from Karachi University in 1968 and MA from same University in 1969 in first class first position, on the basis of which he was given Anjuman-e-Tarraqi-e-Urdu Pakistan Award. He got his PhD and D.Litt degrees from Karachi University in 1975 and 2003, respectively. In 1967, Dr Aqeel joined American Embassy as an Urdu teacher. In 1968, he got an offer from Oriental University, Naples, Italy and worked for it in the Asian Studies Centre for two years. During the same time, he went to see a number of universities in Europe, studied their libraries, gave extensive lectures and attended many seminars. In 1970, he joined Pakistan Shipowners’ College. In 1984, he joined Karachi University. In 1993, he got an offer from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Japan as an Urdu lecturer, where he worked until 2000. He also taught in Osaka, Kyoto and Daito Banka universities in Japan and Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Language School. He then came back to Pakistan and worked for four years as Head of Urdu Department, Karachi University and Director of the Bureau of Composition and Translation. In 2006, he joined International Islamic University, Islamabad as Chairman and Dean, Faculty of Languages and Literature.
Dr Aqeel is a prolific scholar and travelled to almost all major countries of the world to deliver lectures. He has authored, edited and compiled more than 70 books and about 400 research articles in Urdu and English languages, which have been printed in internationally reputed journals. He has also contributed chapters and papers in encyclopedias and scholarly compendiums.
As a book-lover, Dr Aqeel maintains a personal library containing books, manuscripts, documents and microfilms on South Asian history and culture of the Muslims. In 2012, he donated 28,000 books (80 percent of his stock) to the Asian and African Area Studies Centre at Kyoto University, Japan which has preserved them in their library as ‘Aqeel Collection.’
Besides several official appreciations and recognitions, Dr Aqeel was conferred the highest civil award ‘Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon’ by the Emperor of Japan in 2013. Further, a Festchrift titled ‘History, Literature and Scholarly Perspectives, South and West Asian Context, presented in honour of Dr Moinuddin Aqeel’, consists of articles from scholars of Pakistan, Japan, India, Turkey, the USA, the UK and edited by Dr Jawed Ahmed Khursheed and Dr Khalid Ameen and published by Islamic Research Academy, Karachi in 2016.
Dr Aqeel is well-versed with Urdu (first language), English, Persian, Arabic, Hindi, Italian and Japanese languages.
The annual awards, instituted in 1996 by Majlis-e-Frogh-e-Urdu Adab, a world-renowned Qatar-based Urdu literary organisation, will be presented to the winners at a function to be held in Doha in October or November this year, subject to approval from competent authorities.
The award carries a cash prize of Rs150,000 and a gold medal for each winner. It is given every year to a fiction writer and/or research scholar and/or a critic, one each from Pakistan and India, for their significant contribution towards the promotion of Urdu language and literature.
Chairman of Majlis Mohammad Atiq said the award winners were unanimously chosen recently by two independent juries comprising reputed Urdu scholars in New Delhi and Lahore. Both meetings were conducted online.
The Indian jury comprised Padma Bhushan Prof Dr Gopi Chand Narang, former Chairman of Sahitya Academy, India and an outstanding critic, researcher and intellectual as Chairman while Prof Shafey Kidwai, Chander Bhan Khayal, Nawaid Anjum and Haqqani Al Qasmi were the members.
The Pakistani panel was headed by renowned scholar, critic, researcher and poet Prof Dr Khurshid Rizvi with Prof Fateh Mohammad Malik, Prof Dr Tehsin Firaqi and Prof Dr Zahid Munir Aamir as members.
Announcing the award, Dr Narang said that Shamim Hanfi is recognised as an outstanding critic and intellectual of the present times. “He has rendered invaluable services for the Urdu language and literature. Hanfi has been given this award for his overall literary and critical works,” he noted.
Dr Hanfi was born in Sultanpur, UP on November 17, 1938. His early life was spent in Sultanpur but he had to move to Allahabad for studies, where he came in contact with Firaq saheb, who left a profound impression upon him. After getting MA and D.Phil degrees from Allahabad University in 1962 and 1967, he got D.Litt degree from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in 1976. His teaching career started at AMU. He joined Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi in 1976 from where he retired a few years ago. Jamia has honoured and retained him with the title of Professor Emeritus.
Dr Hanfi is an Urdu critic, dramatist, historian, poet and a proponent of modernist movement in Urdu literature. His books on modernism include Jadidiyat Ki Falsafiana Asaas and Nai She’ri Rawayat. His other books on ‘criticism’ include Ghazal Ka Manzarnama, Kahani Ke Paanch Rang, Firaq, Shair-wa-Shakhs, Dayar-e-Shab Ka Musafir, Iqbal Ka Harf-e-Tamanna, Ghalib Ki Takhleeqi Haissiyet, and Tareekh Tehzeeb Aur Takhleeqi Tajreba. He presently resides in New Delhi and serves as patron to many literary societies and organisations like Ghalib Academy, Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu Hind, Ghalib Institute and Rekhta.
He has written many papers, 100 in India and 50 abroad, which have been published in referred journals. He has published 50 papers in conferences, seminars and workshops in India and 20 abroad. He has written 20 books on criticism, translated five books from other languages, and written four plays and five books for children. He has travelled to severalcountries including Pakistan, Germany, the USA, Qatar, Bahrain and Mauritius, to attend conferences, seminars and meetings.
In recognition of his services to Urdu language and literature, he has been honoured with Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Award, West Bengal’s Pervaiz Shahidi Award, Delhi’s Urdu Academy Award, Ghalib Award, etc.
Prof Dr Moinuddin Aqeel, the award winner from Pakistan, was born on June 25, 1946 in India. He is among the most eminent Urdu scholars and writers of literature, history and culture of the Muslims of South Asia and is widely considered as an invaluable academic asset.
He passed his Matric examination from Government High School, Landhi, Karachi in 1963, intermediate examination from Urdu College, Karachi in 1965, BA from Karachi University in 1968 and MA from same University in 1969 in first class first position, on the basis of which he was given Anjuman-e-Tarraqi-e-Urdu Pakistan Award. He got his PhD and D.Litt degrees from Karachi University in 1975 and 2003, respectively. In 1967, Dr Aqeel joined American Embassy as an Urdu teacher. In 1968, he got an offer from Oriental University, Naples, Italy and worked for it in the Asian Studies Centre for two years. During the same time, he went to see a number of universities in Europe, studied their libraries, gave extensive lectures and attended many seminars. In 1970, he joined Pakistan Shipowners’ College. In 1984, he joined Karachi University. In 1993, he got an offer from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Japan as an Urdu lecturer, where he worked until 2000. He also taught in Osaka, Kyoto and Daito Banka universities in Japan and Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Language School. He then came back to Pakistan and worked for four years as Head of Urdu Department, Karachi University and Director of the Bureau of Composition and Translation. In 2006, he joined International Islamic University, Islamabad as Chairman and Dean, Faculty of Languages and Literature.
Dr Aqeel is a prolific scholar and travelled to almost all major countries of the world to deliver lectures. He has authored, edited and compiled more than 70 books and about 400 research articles in Urdu and English languages, which have been printed in internationally reputed journals. He has also contributed chapters and papers in encyclopedias and scholarly compendiums.
As a book-lover, Dr Aqeel maintains a personal library containing books, manuscripts, documents and microfilms on South Asian history and culture of the Muslims. In 2012, he donated 28,000 books (80 percent of his stock) to the Asian and African Area Studies Centre at Kyoto University, Japan which has preserved them in their library as ‘Aqeel Collection.’
Besides several official appreciations and recognitions, Dr Aqeel was conferred the highest civil award ‘Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon’ by the Emperor of Japan in 2013. Further, a Festchrift titled ‘History, Literature and Scholarly Perspectives, South and West Asian Context, presented in honour of Dr Moinuddin Aqeel’, consists of articles from scholars of Pakistan, Japan, India, Turkey, the USA, the UK and edited by Dr Jawed Ahmed Khursheed and Dr Khalid Ameen and published by Islamic Research Academy, Karachi in 2016.
Dr Aqeel is well-versed with Urdu (first language), English, Persian, Arabic, Hindi, Italian and Japanese languages.
