Fateh Mohammad Malik

Fateh Mohammad Malik
Native name	فتح محمد ملک
Born	1936 (age 88–89) Village Tehi, Talagang, Punjab Province, British India[1] (now in Talagang District, Pakistan)
Occupation	Critic and scholar
Language	Urdu, English
Alma mater	Gordon College
Notable works	Iqbal's reconstruction of Muslim political thought Iqbal Inspired Humour: A Note on Parodies by Selected Urdu Poets Saadat Hassan Manto ek nai taabeer Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi shair aur afsana nigar[1]
Notable awards	Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) Award by the President of Pakistan in 2006[1][2]
Children	Tariq Malik

Fateh Mohammad Malik, (Urdu: فتح محمد ملک ALA-LC: born 1936)[1] is a Pakistani literary critic, linguist and a scholar.[3] He has authored several books including an essay "Iqbal Inspired Humour: A Note on Parodies by Selected Urdu Poets" published in Of Clowns and Gods, Brahmans and Babus - Humour in South Asian Literatures.[1][4]

Iqbal had a key influence on him and he wrote at least six books on him including his book Iqbal's reconstruction of Muslim political thought published by University of Leicester, England.[1] His major work while working for National Language Authority was a five-volume book on the origin of Urdu as a language.[1]

Career

Politics

Malik was close to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who personally requested him to edit the daily Mussawaat around the 1970 general election, both sharing the common ideology of Islamic socialism, while later Malik would become a press secretary to Hanif Ramay, also a PPP politician and the Chief Minister of Punjab for 1974-1975.[5]

Academia

Malik is the chairman of the National Language Authority. He served as Rector of the International Islamic University, Islamabad until 2012 when he was sacked by then President Zardari under pressureof from the Saudi government. Before being sacked from his post, he criticized Saudi Arabia's practices as uncivilized and anti-women during a seminar.[6]

He also served this university as a dean of the faculty of languages, literature and humanities.[1]

Before starting his career in Pakistan, he taught at Columbia University, Heidelberg University, Humboldt University and Saint Petersburg University for ten years.[1]

Awards and recognition

• Sitara-i-Imtiaz Award (Star of Excellence) by the President of Pakistan in 2006[2]
• Presidential Iqbal Award[7]

References

1. "The nation's intellectual decline is distressing — Prof Fateh Mohammed Malik". Dawn (newspaper). 12 February 2009. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
2. Fateh Mommad Malik's Sitara-i-Imtiaz award in 2006 on Dawn newspaper website Retrieved 1 November 2022
3. Prof Fateh Mohammad Malik: Life and Works by Muhammad Hameed Shahid, 2008 (Pakistani Adab Ke Memar series)
4. Heidelberg South Asian Studies Christina Oesterheld and Claus Peter Zoller, eds., Of Clowns and Gods, Brahmans and Babus - Humour in South Asian Literatures (University of Heidelberg, 1999).
5. Masood, Tariq (29 June 2014). "Fateh Muhammad Malik: Dodging criticism". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
6. "'Saudi pressure' forced Zardari to sack IIUI rector". The Express Tribune (newspaper). 16 November 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
7. Firaqi, Dr. Tehseen (16 November 2021). "ایک گھنٹہ ایوانِ صدر میں". Daily Nai Baat (in Urdu).