Ahmad Salim awarded presidential pride of performance award

Ahmad Salim, famous Punjabi poet /writer and Senior Advisor at SDPI has received President’s Pride of Performance Award on the occasion of Independence Day in recognition of his excellent contributions in the field of literature.

Ahmad Salim has a diverse portfolio and has served the nation as forover 36 years as teacher, language instructor, writer, researcher, translator and editor with the government, media, international organizations, and research institutions. He has over 150 publications to his credit including 87 books, 22 research publications including 3 on curriculum and education, and 8 international publications besides a number of articles in reputed newspapers.

Mr Salim has also won other awards such as best poem on Faiz in 1966, Writer’s Guild Award on best translation from Sindhi to Punjabi in 1977, Masood Khaddarposh Award on best Punjabi prose work in 1996, Masood Khaddarposh Award on 3rd best Punjabi prose work in 1996, Guru Ram Singh Azadi Award in 1999 (UK), Punjabi Adabi Sangat Award (UK) on best Punjabi contribution in 2000 and best script for PTV documentary, Cholistan, in 1978.

His publications include 25 books of literary work on poetry, fiction, criticism, travelogue in Punjabi; 20 non-fiction books; 20 research books on minorities in Pakistan 1947 and 1971; he has compiled over 40 books on literature, history, and freedom movements while he is currently compiling 15 more books on these subjects.

Ahmad Salim was born on January 26, 1945 in village of Miana Gondal in district Mandi Bahauddin of Punjab. He was the fourth among seven brothers and sisters. Ahmad Salim got his early education in Miana Gondal and went to Peshawar for Matriculation. After matriculation from Peshawar, Ahmad Salim moved to Karachi for his intermediate education. He completed his intermediate level education from Urdu Collegen and joined National Bank in 1968. Later, he was transferred to Rawalpindi where he continued working for the same bank until 1969.

He then moved to Lahore and started teaching at Shah Hussain College. In 1972, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto appointed Faiz Ahmad Faiz as Chairman of National Council of Arts. On Faiz's invitation, Ahmad Salim joined the Council. During his association with the National Council of Arts from

1972 to 1975, Ahmad Salim operated Folklore Research Centre and published material on Punjabi and Sindhi folklore. Ahmad Salim left the Council shortly after Faiz left that institution in 1974.

In 1976-77, Ahmad Salim taught courses on Pakistani languages at Sindh University, Jamshoro. For supplemental income, Ahmad Salim did a lot of translation work too, and came to popularly known as Ahmad Salim Muttarajjim (translator). In 1979, he got admission in MA Philosophy at Karachi University and completed MA with a gold medal.

From 1996 to June 2007, Ahmad Salim worked as Director of Urdu Publications for Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), an independent Islamabad-based policy oriented think tank and he continues working with the Institute as Senior Advisor and he has also be associated with South Asian Research and Resource Centre (SARRC).