Syed Mohammad Ashraf
DOHA: Renowned Indian and Pakistani Urdu scholars — Syed Muhammad Ashraf and Dr Mazhar Mahmood Shairani— have been named winners of the 22nd Aalmi Frogh-e-Urdu Adab Awards for the current year.
The annual awards, instituted by Qatar-based leading literary organization, Majlis-e-Frogh-e-Urdu Adab, in 1996, will be presented to the winners at a glittering ceremony in November this year.
The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 150,000/= and a gold medal for each winner. It is given every year to a fiction writer/ research scholar/ critic, each from India and Pakistan for their significant contribution towards the promotion of the Urdu language and literature.
Majlis chairman Mohammad Atiq said that the award winners were chosen by two independent juries, comprising eminent Urdu scholars, in Aligarh and Lahore.
The meeting in India was conducted by a skype conference call, as the jury chairman, Padam Bhushan Prof. Dr Gopi Chand Narang (former chairman, Sahitya Academy, India) is in USA these days.
Its other members — Prof. Muhammad Shafey Qidwai and Rashid Anwer Rashid were in Aligarh and Nusrat Zaheer Ahmed was in New Delhi. The Pakistani panel was headed by Prof. Dr. Khurshid Rizvi and its other members were Prof. Dr. Saleem Akhter, Prof. Dr. Tehsin Firaqi and Prof. Dr. Zahid Munir Aamir.
Ashraf was born on 8th July,1957 in Sitapur. Announcing the award, Prof. Dr. Narang said that Ashraf’s fiction has artistically portrayed the suffering and pain of millions of migrants across the border. He is known for the sensitive depiction of the middle class muslim culture and the sufi heritage.”
The award winner from Pakistan, Dr Mazhar Mahmood Shairani was born on 9th October, 1935. Dr. Mazhar has had a very long teaching and research experience. He was a lecturer / Assistant Professor and Associate Professor [ Persian ] in various Government Colleges in Muzaffargarh, Sheikhupura and Lahore from October,1960 to October, 1995, when he retired.
