Present Assignment

Dr. Anwaar Ahmad has been appointed as Chairman, National Language Authority, Pakistan by Prime Minister.

Anwaar Ahmad is a Pakistani educationist, scholar and a short story writer. Born on June 11, 1947 in Multan

Multan

Multan , is a city in the Punjab Province of Pakistan and capital of Multan District. It is located in the southern part of the province on the east bank of the Chenab River, more or less in the geographic centre of the country and about from Islamabad, from Lahore and from Karachi...

, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, Ahmad is an author of ten books. He has written seventy research articles or papers published in national and international journals. He wrote Urdu Afsana : Aik Sadi ka Kissa.

Biography

Anwaar Ahmad obtained his Masters (Urdu) degree from Govt. Emerson College Multan

Govt. Emerson College Multan

Govt. Emerson College Multan is located on Bosan Road Multan. It is also called Government College Multan, Govt. College Multan, GC Multan, or Govt. Bosan Road College Multan. It is the largest college in Multan city.-History:...

 in 1969. He joined Bahauddin Zakariya University

Bahauddin Zakariya University

Bahauddin Zakariya University is located in Multan, Punjab, Pakistan. It is the Largest university of South Punjab. Bahauddin Zakariya University was formerly known as Multan University. It was renamed in honor of Hazrat Baha-ud-din Zakariya...

, Multan, Pakistan as a Lecturer in 1975, and contributed to the development of Urdu Department till his retirement in 2007. He served as the Chairman Urdu Department and the Dean Faculty of Languages and Literature. He has supervised numerous Masters and Doctoral students.

Literary works

An article written by Altaf Hussain Asad published in The News International

The News International

The News International , published in tabloid size, is the largest English language newspaper in Pakistan. The News has an ABC certified circulation of 140,000. It is published from Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi/Islamabad...

on January 31, 2010 states, "Progressive and liberal, he braved the stifling conditions of Multan and made his department one of the most energetic and research-oriented centres around. He trained students in Multan. Apart from his academic excellence, he is also a scholar of Urdu literature. His recent book Urdu Afsana: Aik Sadi Ka Qissah is a magnum opus. Some of his other books are: Khwaja Fareed Kay Teen Rang, Aik Hi Kahani, Yakja, Shaukat Siddiqi Shaksiat Aur Fun etc."

Ahmad's recently translated a love poem in Sanskrit called Sandes Rasik.
Ahmad commented:
"Sandes Rasak by Abdur Rahman is a melodious love poem, which may be compared with Kali Das's Maigh Doot. In March 2004, Masood Ashar wrote in his column that an Indian researcher Naamwar Singh had revealed in a gathering in Lahore that a poet of Multan was writing poetry in the 11th century. This stirred me into action. A few weeks later, I visited Delhi and met Naamwar Singh...Then Dr Moeen ud Din Aqeel helped me a lot...So, I again requested Professor Asghar Ali Shah, a teacher of Arabic and a keen student of Sanskrit, to do the translations in Sanskrit and English respectively,and published this book with a brief introduction."

A book review published in The News International (2007) by Abrar Ahmad regarding Ahmad's Urdu Afsana: Aik Sadi ka Kissa states "The book is an undeniable document to prove the ingenious effort done by the author unfolding his enviable affinity and capability for sustained hard work. Anwaar's pursuit has been dictated as much by sentiment as by the history of Urdu fiction contrary to Shams-ur-Rehman Faruqi's words that "its illogical to expect great work in a form just 70, 75 years old." Anwaar is quite a keen advocate of its brilliance and argues that sometimes in history, a few decades are more meaningful than centuries.'

"Anwaar begins the book with an analysis of the definitions of a short story examining those from world literature and from sources like Encyclopædia Britannica, and Americana. He infers, from this study, that there are four essential characteristics of a short story: it is written in prose; it is a modern version of oral story-telling; its canvas is limited in comparison to a novel; lastly it addresses the intensity of feelings while focusing on the centrality of impression...He has also traced the influence of certain major writers on the recent literati, hence defining different strata of commonality and waves going side by side.

"Dr. Anwaar Ahmad displays a systematic but calculated hostility towards conservative or reactionary writers and writings. He remains boldly faithful to his ideological stance without jeopardising the authenticity of his work. That not only proves him to be a research scholar but also a creative critic of substantial wisdom. With reference to short story, there is no other account that is so exact and authentic."

Ahmad served as a visiting Associate Professor at Research Institute of World Languages, Osaka University, Japan. Describing his experience, Ahmad said, "I have tried to make some easy and interesting lessons in Urdu out of Japanese Literature."