Jagannath Azad

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Jagannath Azad
Jagannath Azad

Jagannath Azad (1918-2004) was a prominent Urdu-speaking Hindu academic who wrote the first national anthem of Pakistan.

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[edit] Early life

He was born on December 5th, 1918 in the town of Isa Khel in western Punjab, which now lies in Pakistan. In 1937, he obtained a BA from Gordon College in Rawalpindi and in 1944 went on to study for an MA in Persian from the University of the Punjab in Lahore. Azad then started a journalistic career, working for the Urdu monthly Adabi Dunya, published in Lahore. By 1946, Azad was assistant editor of the Urdu daily, Jai Hind. After Partition in 1947, he was asked by Muhammad Ali Jinnah to write a new national anthem for Pakistan.[1][2] Azad wrote the anthem in a few days and it was quickly approved by Jinnah. The anthem continued to be used for eighteen months until, after Jinnah's death, the government of Pakistan decided it needed a new anthem.

[edit] Later life

Shortly after writing the anthem, Azad migrated to India, where he worked as assistant editor of several publications and also worked as information officer successively for the Press Information Bureau, the Ministry of Food, and the Ministry of Works and Housing.[3] Eventually, from 1977 to 1980, Azad was appointed Professor of Urdu and head of the Urdu department at the University of Jammu.[3] In 1988 he was appointed a Professor Emeritus for life. Azad was also president of the Anjuman Taraqqi-e-Urdu Hind for ten years. During his career, Azad published fifteen collections of poems, twelve long Nazms and several works of prose, all in Urdu as well as some works in English.[3] His impact on the literary circles of both India and Pakistan can be measured by the five books and numerous research articles written about him and the DLitt degrees awarded to him by the universities of Kashmir and Jammu.[3]

Jagannath Azad was universally accepted as an Authority on the works of Dr Allama Mohammad Iqbal. The Government of Pakistan awarded The President of Pakistan's Gold Medal to Prof. Azad for his services to Urdu Literature.

[edit] Death

Jagannath Azad died of cancer at a hospital in July 2004. He was 86 and survived by wife and five children. During his illustrious career, Azad had served as Director Press Information Bureau (PIB), Head of the department of Urdu at Jammu University and Assistant Editor Milap, according to Anjuman Taraqqui Urdu Hind, a national body for the promotion of Urdu under the Human Resource Development Ministry.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ (English) Luv Puri, The Hindu. "A Hindu wrote Pakistan's first national anthem". Retrieved on 2006-04-12.
  2. ^ (English) Site Edition, Daily Times of Pakistan. "Jagan Nath Azad wrote Pakistan’s first anthem". Retrieved on 2006-04-19.
  3. ^ a b c d (English) Online edition, Milli Gazette. "Doyen of Urdu". Retrieved on 2006-04-19.

[edit] External links