|
Ashraf Shad, Novelist, poet and journalist , an Australian of Pakistani origin, is a prominent writer/journalist of Urdu language and is an award winning novelist and a poet of repute. He was the head of the Urdu language program of SBS Radio Sydney, the Australian public broadcaster, and worked for major newspapers in Pakistan, Bahrain and Kuwait before migrating to Australia His novel ‘Bewatan’ won the Prime Minister Literary Award in 1998 for the best novel from the Pakistan Academy of Letters.
His published work includes three novels, three books of poetry, a collection of short stories, all in Urdu and a research work (in English) on the coverage in the US press of the developing world. Ashraf is credited with exposing the brutal Pakistani establishment in his novels. According to Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi, one of the most famous Urdu writers and poets, “Ashraf shad reinvigorated the tradition of creating literature by making bold use of political material.” Prof. Jagan Nath Azad, a prominent literary critic and poet, regarded Ashraf a modern poet of distinction saying “… the diction of his poetry comes from the past and the present then travels far into the future…”
Ashraf was born into a Moghul family in 1946 in Moradabad, a city of Uttar Pradesh (UP), India. His ancestors were from the Javanshir tribe of Azerbaijan and came to India in the 19th century with the invading Muslim army. After the partition of India his family moved to Karachi, the first capital of Pakistan.
He was graduated from the Urdu College of Karachi University but left his law degree uncompleted as to start his career as a journalist. He achieved diploma in journalism from an institute run by International Organizing of Journalists in Budapest, Hungary and earned his Master’s degree from the University of New South Wales, a leading Australian University.
He worked his way up from a trainee journalist in 1967 to the Executive Editor of a political weekly in 1976. He had to go to US in self-exile during the Martial Government in Pakistan and lived in New York working with left-wing groups and human rights organizations. He moved to Bahrain in 1983 and joined the local weekly Gulf Mirror and worked there till the paper closed down in 1986. He joined Daily Arab Times in Kuwait as the Editor of its Urdu section and remained there until 1989 when he migrated to Australia with his family. In Sydney he joined the SBS Radio as an Executive Producer and head of the Urdu program in Sydney. He was also the Australian correspondent for the Pakistani English daily, Dawn, and for the Indian news agency, UNI. He took early retirement from the SBS to join the UAE University in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, as an Academic Editor as well as the Editor of the University magazine, Research Affairs. He also taught media courses in SZABIST, another university in Dubai. He left UAE in 2011 and moved to Brunei where he works as a freelance journalist.
He has a long record of skirmishes with the dictatorial regimes in Pakistan, first as a student and then as a journalist. He was detained briefly a couple of times during students demonstration against the first military dictator in Pakistan, General Ayub Khan. In 1970 he actively participated in a nation-wide journalists’ strike during the Martial Law government of General Yahya Khan and was among journalists who were sacked and black-listed for jobs in major newspapers. In 1973, during the civilian government of Zulfiqar Al Bhutto, he was arrested for violating government ban on public gathering. He was protesting against black press laws and had to spend three weeks in Lahore Camp Jail. He was arrested again in 1978 during the military regime of Zia-ul-Haq under Martial Law Order 12 (MLO 12) for his aggressive reporting and active participation in journalists’ movement for the freedom of press. He spent three months in Karachi and Hyderabad jails. He went to New York into self-exile in 1980 after he was indicted in a more serious case under Official Secret Act for publishing government documents marked ‘Top Secret’. After three years in New York he moved to Bahrain to join his family.
He is married to Dr. Kaneez Fatima-Shad, an academic and a neuroscientist known for her work on brain disorders and is currently a professor in the University of Brunei Darussalam. She is also a poet and short story writer. He has a daughter and two sons. His daughter spends time between London and Sydney and is a playwright and a novelist. Both of his sons live in Sydney; Arsalan is a banker and a songwriter and Salman studied acting and is a professional stage actor.
Publications
1. Problems of Reporting the Developing World: A case study of New York Time’s reporting on China (1992).
2. Bewatan , a novel that won award for the best novel in Pakistan (1997).
3. Bewatan, Hindi translation published in India 2001).
4. Wazir-e-Azam , (The Prime Minister): A political fiction (1999).
5. Nisab, a collection of poetry (1996).
6. Sadre Mohtaram , (The President): (2004).
7. Aa Merey Qareeb Aa (Come close to me):a collection of poetry, (2003).
8. Peeli Lakeer (The yellow line): a collection of short stories (2011).
9. Shora-e-Australia (Urdu Poets of Australia): Compilation (2001).
Awards
2005 – Australian Award for contribution to Australian Multiculturalism by FECCA, Sydney 1998 - Prime Minister Literary Award from Pakistan Academy of Letters for best novel 1999 – Award by the Urdu Society of Australia for literary and journalistic contributions
|
