Ashfaq Ahmed

Ashfaq Ahmed was a Pakistani author, playwright, and broadcaster who was born on August 22, 1925, into a Mohmand tribe of Pashtun ethnicity in Muktsar, Punjab, British India. He received his early education in Muktsar. He moved to Pakistan and resided in Lahore, Punjab, just before India was divided in 1947. From Government College Lahore, he earned a Master of Arts in Urdu literature. His wife and friend in Urdu literary circles, Bano Qudsia Bano Qudsia, a great novelist, playwright and inte >> Read More... , was a Government College classmate. Ahmed spoke Punjabi, Urdu, English, Italian, and French and was a world traveler.

When he was younger, he authored stories that were included in the children's magazine ‘Phool’ (Flower). He started publishing his literary journal, ‘Dastaango’ (Story Teller), after returning to Pakistan from Europe, and he also started working as a scriptwriter for Radio Pakistan. The Pakistani government appointed him editor of the well-known Urdu weekly ‘Lail-o-Nahar’ (Day and Night) instead of the celebrated poet Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum. There are nearly thirty novels by Ahmed. In 1955, his short book ‘Gaddarya’ (The Shepherd) brought him initial notoriety. He founded the Central Board for the Development of Urdu in Lahore with his funds. 

Ashfaq Ahmed began his ‘Talqeen Shah’ (The Preacher) radio program in 1962, which helped him gain popularity among people in towns and villages. He was the director of the ‘Markazi’ Urdu Board for 29 years after it was renamed Urdu Science Board. He was on the board through 1979. During Zia-ul-Haq's rule, he also worked as an adviser in the Ministry of Education. Pancreatic cancer claimed Ahmed's life on September 7, 2004. In Pakistan's Model Town in Lahore, he was laid to rest.