No award for Urdu literature could vie with the Aalmi Majlis e Frogh e Majlis Urdu Doha, Qatar in terms of prestige as it zeroes in on literary merit; hence, hardly any aspersion was cast on the awardees across the sub-continent. The award, initiated in 1996, carrying a cash prize of 150000 rupees, is given to a prominent prose writer from Pakistan and another one from India. Its recipients include Intizar Hussain, Mansha Yaad, Qazi Abul Sattar, Gopi Chand Narang, Waris Alvi, Syed Mohammad Ashraf, Shamim Hanfi, and the like.
For many, it is the Nobel Prize of Urdu literature, and my selection as a recipient in 2023 was a complete surprise to me. I was delighted and felt greatly honoured. Though I hardly stirred out of the house, I made an exception and received the award in person.
The moving spirit behind the coveted award is self-effacing Mohammad Atiq Saheb. Atiq has a benign face that forever bears a calm and serene expression. I was to discover his inner peace and profound spirituality through our conversation. Ateeq’s unflinching commitment to the propagation of Urdu literature must be told explicitly.
Atiq was born on February 8 1942, into an educated and literary family in Delhi. His early schooling and up to high school were conducted in the Fatehpuri Muslim High School culminating in passing the Matriculation in 1957. He then pursued B. Com [Honors] from the S.R. College of Commerce in 1961. The college awarded him a Gold Medal for obtaining a first class in all Terminal and Annual examinations from the Delhi Board of Education. In June the same year he was inducted into the same college for a 2-year M. Com degree. After passing its first year, he got an offer of a probationary officer from The Bank of India. He discontinued his education in favour of joining the bank. Thus began a long, illustrious career in banking.
Atiq got married on October 8, 1967. His wife was also from Delhi. She was educated up to middle school but holds a diploma, “Adeeb Fazil”, from Aligarh Muslim University. They have three children: two sons and a daughter.
In 1967 Atiq took his mother and wife to Karachi to visit his three elder siblings, all of whom his father had sent to Pakistan in 1951 to settle down there. His father had planned to take the remaining family to Pakistan shortly after, but circumstances deemed otherwise.
It was an emotional reunion. The family was unhappy to see the condition of other siblings. After discussing this with his parents and brothers, Ateeq decided to migrate from India, along with his parents and the siblings left behind in India (a younger brother and two younger sisters), to Pakistan.
In Pakistan, he joined the United Bank of Karachi. On March 18, 1973, United Bank transferred him to its Doha, Qatar branch. After working for United Bank for six years Ateeq decided to resign and start a new venture. On March 15, 1979, along with two other senior United Bank Executives, he laid the foundation of Qatari Bank owned by Qatar’s Royal Family members and top businessmen. It remains a matter of great pleasure and honour for Ateeq that the name he proposed, “DOHA BANK” was approved in the first meeting of the First Board of Directors. Another matter of equally great pride for Ateeq is that he has been designated by the bank’s Chairman and Managing Director to be the father of the bank.
At Doha Bank he rose steadily in the hierarchy, being promoted to Assistant General Manager on January 1, 1980, Deputy General Manager in December 1987, and General Manager in November 1999, a position in which he served till June 30, 2001. He was then honoured with an advisory position to the bank’s board of directors from July 1, 2001, a position he continued to serve till he took retirement from the bank on September 23, 2006. After taking residential rights to live in Qatar from the local Immigration authorities, a rare honour, he has been living a retired life with his wife in Qatar.
In the meantime, Malik Museeb-Ur-Rehman, who hailed from Lahore, founded Majlis e Farogh e Urdu Adab in Doha in 1991. The Majlis’ objective was to promote the Urdu language and literature and hold Indo-Pak Mushairas (gatherings of poets) and other events of a literary nature by inviting prominent Urdu poets from across the globe every year. Museeb had been organizing these Mushairas for two years without significant financial support from the business community and Urdu lovers. In January 1994, he met Ateeq and after a preliminary discussion, he requested him take over the Majlis as Chairman/Patron-in-Chief.
In the last quarter of 1994 the Majlis decided to invite Mushtaq Ahmed Yousufi, a renowned satirist and humour writer, to Doha and hosted an “Evening’ with him. Yousufi told Ateeq that while poets were invited and honoured worldwide by Urdu Organizations, the same was not done for Urdu fiction -writers and scholars. On this advice, the Majlis initiated the formation of the Aalmi Farogh-e-Urdu Adab Award – one for Pakistani and the other for Indian fiction writers.
Following the decision, Ateeq discussed the concept with Museeb and Prof Gopi Chand Narang, the renowned Urdu scholar, intellectual, critic, and researcher from India. It was decided that from 1996 the Majlis would initiate the “Aalmi Frogh e Urdu Adab Award ” (one for a Pakistani and the other for an Indian fiction writer/scholar). The term scholar was added to the scope of further discussions which will carry a cash prize of Rs. 100,000 and an Award trophy. The Majlis set up two independent Award Jury Committees: the Pak Award Jury, headed by Janab Mushtaq Ahmed Yousufi and the Indian Award Jury, headed by Prof. Dr Gopi Chand Narang. The cash prize was later increased, in stages to Rs. 150,000.
On December 7, 2005, the 12th Aalmi Mushaira and 10th Aalmi Frogh e Urdu Adab Award functions were held in Doha. However, on April 2 2006, a bombshell fell. On hearing about his uncle’s death, Museeb went to Lahor. On reaching home, he prayed loudly over his uncle’s dead body. Right there, he suddenly had a severe cardiac attack, fell on his uncle’s body, and died. Museeb’s death was a terrible loss.
Museeb was well-known and respected by all prominent writers, poets, and Urdu scholars. With his sudden passing away, it was believed that the future of Majlis was uncertain. On May 15 Ateeq was invited to the condolence meeting. To a proposal, he said it would be a challenge to accept the proposal but he did accept it in all humility. Everybody in the meeting wished him well.
The annual Majlis function could not be held in 2006, as the Asian Games were held in Qatar in December of the same year. But the functions have been held yearly from 2007 till November 2, 2023.
Ateeq Saheb is 82 and has completed 51 years in Qatar.
I glimpsed the iron will of the Khuddari (self-respect) that Ateeq Saheb’s wife was talking about in his words. I could see her pride was neither misplaced nor exaggerated.
Ateeq Saheb is blessed with two sons, one of whom lives in Doha, while the other is based overseas but visits his parents often.
The world of Urdu owes him a debt that cannot be paid back. The Majlis e Farogho Adab has been rewarding excellence for nearly three decades. Ateeq Saheb is a force of nature, and his love for the language is unparalleled; his efforts are beyond exemplary.
They say language is the vessel of a culture, fundamental to preserving its identity. Ateeq deserves all credit and the unending gratitude of the Urdu people for the phenomenal body of work he has successfully delivered through the Majlis.
Zakia Mashadi is a prominent fiction writer who received several awards for her works
