Ather Farouqui


Dr. Ather Farouqui is a writer of unparalleled acclaim in Delhi. He is the General Secretary of Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu (Hind) and the Secretary of Zakir Hussain Study Circle. Farouqui has been awarded the Sahitya Academy Award for the translation of the play ‘Sons of Babur’ in Urdu. He has also been conferred with the ‘Best Translator’ award in 2016 by Delhi Urdu Academy.

Early life and education

Dr. Ather Farouqui was born in 1964 in Sikandrabad, Uttar Pradesh.
He completed his M.A. from Chaudhary Charan Singh University in Urdu Literature and went to study at Jawahar Lal Nehru University first for a Diploma in Mass Communication followed by an MPhil and a Ph.D. under Professor Imtiaz Ahmad on the socio-political condition of Urdu in India in the post-partition era.

Books

Dr. Ather Farouqui has authored several books in English Hindi and Urdu, his writings include:
English
  • Redefining Urdu Politics in India
  • Muslims and Media Images: News versus Views
  • The Life and Poetry of Bahadur Shah Zafar
  • Delhi in Historical Perspectives
  • The Last Gathering
  • Sawaneh-i Dehli : Biography of Delhi
Urdu
  • Makhmoor Saeedi Ek Muta’la
  • Rasheed Hasan Khan: Hayat aur Adabi Khidma’t
  • Guftugoo Unki
  • Azad Hindustan Mein Urdu Zaban, Taleem aur Sahafat
  • Hindustaan Mein Urdu Siyasat ki Tafheem-i Nau
  • Na Mukammal
  • Ghalib's Qaadirnama
  • Unneesveen Sadi Main Adab, Tareekh aur Tehzeeb
  • Armughan-I Faruqi
  • Akhtar ul-Iman
  • Babur Ki Aulad
Hindi
  • Akhtar-ul Iman's Sarosaaman into Devanagari
  • ''Babur Ki Aulad''

Journals

Dr. Ather Farouqui is the editor of the following journals:
Urdu
  • Urdu Adab
  • Hamari Zabaan.

Reviews

Dr. Ather Farouqui's review work includes:
  • ‘On Urdu’, Review of ‘How Not to Write the History of Urdu Literature’ by Ralph Russell.
  • ‘Salvaging Urdu from Degradation' Review of 'The Oxford India Anthology of Modern Urdu Literature, Poetry and Prose Miscellaneous', edited by Mehr Afshan Farooqi.
  • Review of ‘Liking Progress, Loving Change: Literary History of the Progressive Writers’ Movement’, by Rakshanda Jalil.
  • ‘Estranged Siblings: Urdu and Hindi’ Review of the book ‘From Hindi to Urdu: A Social and Political History’ by Tariq Rahman.

Articles

Dr. Ather Farouqui has contributed to Outlook, Times of India, Economic and Political Weekly, American Journal of Economics and Sociology, South Asia Journal of South Asian Studies, IIC Quarterly, Mainstream, and The Milli Gazette among others. His articles include:
Articles
  • ‘Future Prospects of Urdu in India’.
  • ‘Urdu Education in India: Four Representative States’.
  • ‘The Emerging Dilemma of the Urdu Press in India’.
  • ‘The Emerging Dilemma of the Urdu Press in India’.
  • ‘Urdu Education in India’.
  • ‘Urdu Language and Education - Need for Political Will and Strategy’.
  • With Hasan Abdullah ‘Facing the RSS Challenge’.
  • ‘The Distortionists’.
  • ‘Who's the Real Muslim?’.
  • ‘Friends and Foes’.
  • ‘The great Urdu fraud’, Part-I
  • ‘The great Urdu fraud’, Part-II
  • ‘The emerging dilemma of the Urdu press in India: A viewpoint’, Published online.
  • ‘Triple Talaq Isn't Islamic’.
  • ‘Triple Talaq Isn't Islamic’.
  • ‘Indian Muslim's Dilemma’.
  • 'The Gentle Zephyr’.
  • ‘It's Daylight Robbery’.
  • ‘Pariahs in Our Own Home’.
  • ‘Riyadh Diary’.
  • 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.
  • ‘Syed Shahabuddin on his life and Politics’ exclusive interview by Dr. Ather Farouqui.
  • ‘Islamic Banking: An Anathema to Civil Society’.
  • ‘Islamic Banking in India at the Service of Pan-Islamists’
  • Urdu needs Kiss of Life and not Myopic Policies – Ather Farouqui
  • My Second Innings: "Battling" for Urdu with the Chief Minister of Delhi – Ather Farouqui
  • ‘It Is Majoritarianism That Needs To Be Contested’ – Ather Farouqui Interviews Ayesha Jalal
  • ‘Inner History of a Lost Culture’
  • 'Developing Linkage between the Muslim Mind and National Polity' – Syed Shahabuddin's Interview with Ather Farouqui.
  • ‘In the Family Way’
  • ‘Delhi Diary’.
  • ‘Urdu’: Not a Language but the City of Shajahanabad.
  • The Denial of Prophecy and a Tryst with History: Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children.
  • 'Playing English' -The Politics of Identity and Space in Vikram Seth's 'An Equal Music'
  • Uncovering Political Dynamics in Pakistan: Analysing Mohammed Hanif's A Case of Exploding Mangoes