– M Rafi Ahmed
A multifaceted personality Prof Choudhri M. Naim breathed his last in the US. He was 89. The Barabanki-born scholar from Uttar Pradesh is one of the most respected experts on Urdu and other South Asian languages. He completed his Master’s in Lucknow University in 1955 before going to the University of California, Berkeley in the US. Moreover, Naim was Professor Emeritus of South Asian Languages and Civilisations at the University of Chicago – a position which capped his decade-long association with the university where he taught from 1961 to 2001. He chaired the South Asian Languages and Civilisations department from 1985 to 1991.
Adding more feather to his cap, he was founding editor of many journals and prolific commentator, his voice resonated on all matters to do with the Urdu language, culture and its politics as things got dire for Urdu in the sub-continent, the place of its birth.
Naim unhesitatingly tackled political issues along with his serious work on pure literary debates. In 1989, after a visit to Palestine. Sources said that he is said to be one among the finest and authoritative voices on Urdu. Beyond academia, Naim was a founding editor of several journals and remained a consistent and sharp commentator on Urdu’s decline in the Indian subcontinent, the region of its origin. His deep engagement with language politics never kept him from confronting political issues head-on, including the Palestinian cause, about which he wrote passionately after a visit in 1989.
Naim contributed to several prestigious institutions, serving as a consultant to the Asia Society’s Asian Literature Programme in New York, and presses including Princeton University Press and the University of Chicago Press. He was also associated with organisations such as the Association for Asian Studies, the Berkeley Urdu Language Programme in Pakistan, and the American Institute of Pakistan Studies.
In 2023, he published Urdu Crime Fiction, 1890–1950: An Informal History, a work that reflected his enduring connection with Urdu literary traditions. Some of his credentials include: M.A. (Linguistics), University of California, Berkeley, 1961; Consultant, Hindi-Urdu Programme, University of Minnesota, 1961-62; Lecturer, Department of Linguistics, University of Chicago, 1962-63; Instructor, Department of Linguistics, University of Chicago, 1963-68; Visiting Lecturer, University of Pennsylvania, Summer 1964; Assistant Professor, Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago, 1968-71; Visiting Lecturer, University of California, Berkeley, Summer 1968; Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Rochester, Summer 1970; Visiting Associate Professor, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh (India), 1971-72; Associate Professor, Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago, 1971-98; Chairman, Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago, 1985-91 and Professor, Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago, 1998-2001.
And he was consultant to Asian Literature Programme of the Asia Society, New York City, Princeton University Press, University of Chicago Press, University of California Press, Feminist Press, Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, National Endowment for the Humanities, Member, South Asia Regional Council, Association for Asian Studies, 1976-79, Member, Committee on Scholars of Asian Descent, Association for Asian Studies, 1981-84, Member, South Asia Regional Council, Association for Asian Studies, 1990-93, Member, Advisory Committee, Berkeley Urdu Language Programme in Pakistan, University of California, Berkeley, 1975- Member, Board of Trustees, America-Pakistan Research Organization, 1989-93 (now merged with the AIPS) and member, Board of Trustees, American Institute of Pakistan Studies, 1993-95.
[The author is former Indian Express and Deccan Chronicle chief]
