Ather Farouqui
editDate and Place of Birth: 18 January 1964; , Sikandarabad, UP
Employment
Present Position: General Secretary, Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu (Hind), a voluntary organisation established in 1886
PAST POSITIONS
- Member, Board of Directors, DPS Jeddah and Riyadh
- Founding Administrator, DPS Bulandshahr
- Secretary, Zakir Husain Study Circle
- Coordinator (India) of Nobel Laureate Muhammed Abdus Salam Foundation, custodian of his Nobel Prize fund, London
Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu (Hind)
HONOURS
Recipient of the Sahitya Akademi [Indian Academy of Letters] Award for translation (Urdu) 2012, for the play Babur ki Aulad (original play Sons of Babur by Salman Khurshid, 2008), and Best Translation Award 2016, Delhi Urdu Academy.
EDUCATION
1. MA, Meerut University (Presently Choudhury Charan Singh University), 1987.
2. MPhil, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 1990.
3. PhD, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 1995.
PUBLICATIONS
EDITORSHIP OF JOURNALS
● Urdu Adab, the most reputable scholarly journal of Urdu literature since 1920
● Hamari Zaban. A Weekly newspaper that deals with the Urdu movement publishing reputable articles since 1939.
Books:
English
● Redefining Urdu Politics in India (OUP 2006)
● Muslims and Media Images: News versus Views (OUP 2009)
● The Life and Poetry of Bahadur Shah Zafar (Translation of Aslam Parvez’s book. Hay House 2017 (hardbound); paperback 2021)
● Delhi in Historical Perspectives (Translation of K.A. Nizami’s essays on Delhi. OUP 2020)
● The Last Gathering (Translation of Munshi Faizuddiin’s 1885 book about the life in the Red Fort before 1857. Roli Books, 2021)
Urdu
● Makhmoor Saeedi Ek Muta’la (Allama Iqbal Cultural Society. Sikandrabad, 1986)
● Rasheed Hasan Khan: Hyat aur Adabi Khidma’t (Maktaba Jamia, New Delhi 2002)
● Guftugoo Unki (Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu (Hind), 2006)
● Azad Hindustan Mein Urdu Zaban, Taleem aur Sahafat (Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu (Hind), 2007)
● Hindustaan Mein Urdu Siyasat ki Tafheem-i Nau (Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu (Hind), 2010)
● Na Mukammal (Urdu, 2010)
● Ghalib’s Qaadirnama (Edited, NCPUL, 2011)
● Unneesveen Sadi Main Adab, Tareekh aur Tehzeeb (Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu (Hind), 2014)
● Armughan-I Faruqi (Festschrift in honour of S.R. Faruqi) (Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu (Hind), 2019)
● Akhtar ul-Iman (Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu (Hind) 2015)
● Babur Ki Aulad (Rupa & Company, New Delhi. 2008)
Hindi
● Akhtar-ul Iman’s Sarosaaman into Devanagri (transliteration from Urdu into Hindi, Saransh Prakashan. 1996)
● Babur Ki Aulad (Hindi Translation, Rupa & Company 2008)
Translations (Miscellaneous ):
• Poems of Makhmoor Saeedi, (Saeedi, Makhmoor. “A Story of Old and New.” Indian Literature (62, no. 1, January-February 2018)
• ‘Durbar of Dara Shukoh’ by Premchand, Indian Literature (Vol. 58, No. 6 [284] November-December 2014)
Articles/Reviews:
● ‘On Urdu’, Review of How Not to Write the History of Urdu Literature by Ralph Russell (EPW, vol. 35, Issue No. 21/22, May 27, 2000).
● ‘Salvaging Urdu from degradation: The Oxford India Anthology of Modern Urdu Literature, Poetry and Prose Miscellany, edited by Mehr Afshan Farooqi (EPW, Vol. 43, Issue No. 18, May 3 2008).
● Review of Liking Progress, Loving Change: Literary History of the Progressive writers, Movement, by Rakshanda Jalil (Indian Literature, July-August 2014).
● ‘Estranged Siblings: Urdu and Hindi’ From Hindi to Urdu: A Social and Political History by Tariq Rahman (Hyderabad: Orient Blackswan), 2011, Vol. 46, Issue No. 38, September 17, 2011).
Articles:
● ‘Future Prospects of Urdu in India’ (Mainstream, Annual issue 1992)
● ‘Urdu Education in India: Four Representative States’ (EPW, Vol. 29, No. 14 (April 2, 1994), pp. 782-785).
● ‘The Emerging Dilemma of the Urdu Press in India’ (The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, New York, Volume 53, Issue No. 3, July 1, 1994).
● ‘The Emerging Dilemma of the Urdu Press in India’ (South Asia Journal of South Asian Studies, Australia, Vol. 12, Issue No. 2, 1995).
● ‘Urdu Education in India’ (EPW, vol. 37, January 2002).
● ‘Urdu Language and Education - Need for Political Will and Strategy’ (EPW, vol. 37, Issue No. 25, June 22, 2002).
● With Hasan Abdullah ‘Facing the RSS Challenge’ (EPW, vol. 37, June 2002)
● ‘The Distortionists’ (Outlook, November 2, 2004).
● ‘Who’s the Real Muslim?’ (Outlook, December 6, 2004).
● ‘Friends and Foes’ (TOI, April 18 2005).
● ‘The great Urdu fraud’, Part-I ( The Milli Gazette, New Delhi, 1-15 May 2005)
● ‘The great Urdu fraud’, Part-II ( The Milli Gazette, New Delhi, 16-31 May 2005)
● ‘The emerging dilemma of the Urdu press in India: A viewpoint’ (South Asia: Journal of South Asia Studies, Vol. 18, Issue 2, 1995), Published online (www.tandfonline.com, May 8, 2007).
● ‘Triple Talaq Isn’t Islamic’ (TOI, July 16 2007).
● ‘Triple Talaq Isn’t Islamic’ (www.defence.pk, July 16 2007).
● ‘Indian Muslim’s Dilemma’ (TOI, December 31 2007).
● ’The Gentle Zephyr’ (Outlook, April 28, 2008).
● ‘It’s Daylight Robbery’ (TOI, July 28 2008).
● ‘Pariahs in Our Own Home’ (TOI, April 23 2009).
● ‘Riyadh Diary’ (Outlook Weekly, New Delhi, March 29, 2010).
● Dr Abdul Jalil Faridi: A Lost Chapter in the History of the Ruthless, Obscurantist Urdu Politics of North India by Ather Farouqui, translated by Yoginder Sikand for newageislam.com (November 23, 2010).
● ‘Syed Shahabuddin on his life and Politics’ exclusive interview by Dr Ather Farouqui (Newageislam.com, February 15, 2011).
● ‘Islamic Banking: An Anathema to Civil Society’ (EPW, vol. 46, May 7, 2011).
● ‘Islamic Banking in India at the Service of Pan-Islamists’ (Mainstream, vol. 11, March 3, 2012)
● ‘It’s Daylight Robbery’
● Urdu needs Kiss of Life and not Myopic Policies – Ather Farouqui (Mainstream, New Delhi Vol. No. 33, August 4, 2012)
● My Second Innings: “Battling” for Urdu with the Chief Minister of Delhi – Ather Farouqui (Mainstream, New Delhi Vol. No. 40, September 21, 2013)
● ‘It Is Majoritarianism That Needs To Be Contested’ – Ather Farouqui Interviews Ayesha Jalal (Outlookindia, June 24, 2014)
● ‘Inner History of a Lost Culture’ (IIC Quarterly, Volume 44, No. 1, Summer 2017)
● Developing Linkage between the Muslim Mind and National Polity – Syed Shahabuddin’s Interview to Ather Farouqui (Mainstream, New Delhi Vol. No. 13, March 18, 2017)
● ‘In the Family Way’ (TOI 6, September 2017)
● ‘Inner History of a Lost Culture’ (IIC Quarterly, Vol. 44, No. 1, Summer 2017)
● ‘Delhi Diary’ (Mainstream, New Delhi Vol. No. 38, September 5, 2020).
● ‘Urdu’: Not a Language but the City of Shajahanabad (IIC Quarterly Autumn 2020)
● The Denial of Prophecy and a Tryst with History: Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children (IIC Quarterly, Summer 2021).
Interview:
• The Lounge Chair Interview: 10 Questions with Ather Farouqui by Zafar Anjum (www.kitab.org June 5, 2017).
Reviews by others:
● ‘Muslims and Media Images, News versus views’ by Salman Khurshid (IIC Quarter, Vol. 36, No. 1, Summer 2009).
● Muslims and Media Images, News versus views by Kenza Oumlil (AJIS, American Journal of Islam Society, Vol. 29, No. 2, 2012)
● Shafey Qidwai, ‘Babur Ki Aulad: EkTajziatiMuta’la (An Analytical Study)’, (Hamari Zabaan Weekly, 8–14 January 2013).
● “Sons of Babur”, A play by Salman Khurshid and Ather Farouqui, was reviewed by Ziya Us Salam (The Hindu, December 18, 2014. This is the review of the play’s stage performance).
● ‘The Life & Poetry of Bahadur Shah Zafar’ (translated by Ather Farouqui) by Tom Alter (IIC Quarter, Vol. 44, No. 2, Autumn 2017).
Attendant Lords: Bairam Khan and Abdul Rahim, Courtiers and Poets in Mughal India by T. C. A. Baghwan; The Life & Poetry of Bahadur Shah Zafar by Aslam Parvez, translated by Ather Farouqui, by Razak Khan (Biblio: A Review of Books, Vol. No. 10-12, October-December, 2017).
● The Life and Poetry of Bahadur Shah Zafar, by Sana Aziz (www.journals.sagepub.com, May 11, 2018).
● Delhi in Historical Perspectives by K. A. Nizami; translated by Ather Farouqui by Rakhshanda Jalil (Biblio: A Review of Books, Vol. No. 7-9, July-September, 2020
● The Last Gathering by Munshi Faizuddin translated by Ather Farouqui by Mahmood Farooqui (Hindustan Times, July 2, 2021).
K. A. Nizami’s Delhi In Historical Perspective “Ehd-e-Wusta Ki Dilli” by Shafey Kidwai (Frontline, January 29, 2021).
● ‘Bazm-e Aakhir’ translated by Ather Farouqui as ‘The Last Gathering’ by Mohammad Asim Siddiqui as “What was daily life like for royalty in the Red Fort? This book provides a fascinating commentary” (www.scroll.in, July 17, 2021).
Several other articles in English have been published by renowned Indian and foreign newspapers, magazines and journals.
● The Annual of Urdu Studies, University of Wisconsin, USA
● Viewpoint, Lahore
● Indian dailies include The Pioneer, The Hindustan Times, Indian Express, apart from the articles in The Times of India that have already been listed.
Besides, poems, short stories, and reviews in Urdu have appeared in reputed magazines such as:
● Aiwan-i Urdu, (Monthly) New Delhi;
● QaumiAwaz, (Daily)New Delhi;
● Nawa-Waqt, (Daily) Lahore;
● The Nation (Daily); and
● Ghalib Nama, New Delhi.
● Aajkal (Monthly)
Plays:
● Marx My Word (Rupa & Company, 2019 (forthcoming). The play was produced and staged for the first time in 2013, with Tom Alter in the lead role and directing the play. Since then, it has been performed in packed auditoria in Bombay and Delhi until the death of Tom Alter in September 2017. An established theatre group is trying to revive it on stage.
● Translated into Urdu and produced on stage (both the English and Urdu versions) Sons of Babur by Salman Khurshid in more than 100 performances across the globe.
INTERVIEWS
● As a journalist, have conducted interviews with distinguished personalities from different walks of life. These include an exclusive and first-ever interview with the Dalai Lama after winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. I have also interviewed people in the public sphere during my stint as a free-lance journalist.