Muhammad Salim Khawaja
Mohammad Salim Khawja (Ahmed Salim) is a well known poet,
essayist, journalist and literary figure of Urdu and Punjabi.
He has translated numerous fiction and non-fiction texts from
Pakistan’s other national languages into Urdu. He is also
a researcher who has done extensive work documenting the lives
of coal miners and brick kiln workers in Punjab. Additionally
he has published oral histories on the memories of the 1947 partition
of British India within Punjabi villages. Ahmed Salim has been
one of the foremost collectors and archivists of political literature
on the Pakistani Left and Nationalist movements. His collections
make a part of a special section on Pakistan at the International
Institute of Social History in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Ahmed Salim’s presence at various centers will enhance
our understanding of those aspects of Pakistan studies that at
are not always at the fore front of our discussions. This
primarily entails the bringing forward of literature and politics
of Pakistan’s various nationalities in their own language
and through writings in the languages such as Sindhi, Punjabi,
Pushto, Seraiki and Baluchi. His work on translation into Urdu
from other National languages is the most salient aspect of this
effort. Within this context one of his presentations during
his visit he will share his work on the 1971 period and bring
forward the issue of Bangla nationalism and its reception within
the corridors of Pakistan’s state and the public at large.
He will additionally speak, in other presentations, about literary
production in Pakistan’s other languages (besides Urdu)
and how intellectuals from these National groups contest the
cultural politics of the Pakistani state. These are topics that
rarely get aired in discussions of Pakistan in US academia.
Asif Aslam Farrukhi
Asif Aslam Farrukhi is a medical doctor and a public health
expert who works for UNICEF Pakistan. He is also one of
the most prominent literary figures of his generation.
He is a writer of Urdu and English prose and poetry, translator,
literary critic, publisher (Scheherazade publications)
and editor (foremost Urdu Literary journal, Dunyazad). He
is the author of several original literary works and has
been responsible for editing and translating selections from
literature of other national languages of Pakistan into English
and Urdu. As a literary critic and cultural commentator
he has an astute understanding of Pakistan’s contemporary
political and social life. His lectures in the US will
consist of his writings on Pakistani culture, literature
and politics.
Asif
Farrukhi’s contribution to ongoing debates in Urdu
literature and to the larger field of Pakistani literary
trends is very important. Apart from the literary merit
of his own fiction, he has been translating world literature
from all corners of the globe into Urdu and publishing it
either through his publishing house or in his journal Dunyazad.
Simultaneously he has translated Pakistani literature into
English and also published literary debates. The field of
Pakistan studies in the US is still bereft to a large degree
from the literary and cultural discussions within Pakistan.
Generally the focus has been on the study of politics,
history or anthropology. Asif Farrukhi’s contribution
will seek to fill this gap.
