Majlis Frogh-e-Urdu Adab, Doha-based leading literary organisation, has announced that the juries for the 16th Aalmi Frogh-e-Urdu Adab award will meet in Lahore on April 21 and in New Delhi on May 3.
Prof Dr Gopi Chand Narang (left) and Mushtaq Ahmed Yousufi
“The winners from Pakistan and India are to be decided, respectively, at these meetings,” the forum’s chairman Mohamed Atiq said.
Instituted in 1996, the award carries a cash prize of Rs150,000 and a gold trophy for a prose writer each from Pakistan and India for their significant contribution towards promotion of Urdu language and literature.
The Pakistani panel will be headed by renowned Urdu scholar and satirist Mushtaq Ahmed Yousufi with Iftikhar Arif, Mukhtar Masood and Dr Salim Akhter as members.
The Indian panel will be headed by Prof Dr Gopi Chand Narang, the former chairman of the Sahitya Academy. Dr Mohamed Zakir, Chander Bhan Khayal and Dr Pervez Shahryar are members.
The previous winners from Pakistan are Ahmed Nadim Qasmi, Ashfaq Ahmed, Intezar Hussain, Mukhtar Masood, Bano Qudsia, Mohamed Khalid Akhter, Shaukat Siddiqui, Mustansar Hussain Tarar, Abdullah Hussain, Hajra Masroor, Asad Mohamed Khan, Mohamed Mansha Yaad, Dr Jamil Jalibi, Masud Mufti and Syed Mohamed Kazim.
The previous winners from India are Aale Ahmed Saroor, Quratul Ain Haider, Jeelani Bano, Kali Das Gupta Raza, Joginder Paul, Surender Parkash, Dr Gopi Chand Narang, Salahuddin Pervez, Prof Nisar Ahmed Farooqui, Qazi Abdul Sattar, Dr Mughni Tabassum, Prof Varis Alvi, Prof Dr Syeda Jaffer, Rattan Singh and Gulzar.
The 16th Aalmi Frogh-e-Urdu Adab award winners will receive their awards at a major event in Doha before the end of the year.