Description:MAHMOOD HASHMI - Critic, essayist, author, editor, playwright and educationalist
Entry submitted by Pervaiz Khan
Mahmood Hashmi is a long established name in Urdu literature with a wide range of publications.
He graduated from Punjab University and went on to gain a M.A and LL.B from University of Aligarh in 1943. Before Indian independence in 1947 his short stories , literary criticism and radio dramas appeared in leading journals such as Saqi Adabi Dunya and were performed on All India Radio
In 1950, his critically acclaimed book of reportage Kashmir Udhas Hai (The Sorrow of Kashmir) chronicling life in Kashmir at the time of independence was published in Pakistan. Considered a literary landmark it continues to feature in the BA Urdu course of the Open University in Islamabad.
He arrived in Britain in 1953. He gained a postgraduate certificate in education from Leeds University, becoming the first black teacher in Birmingham 1956.
In 1961 he became the founder editor of the London based Mashriq (The East), Britain’s first Urdu newspaper and also the first South Asian newspaper. The paper was initially financed by Pakistani/Kashmiri factory workers from Birmingham who could see the significant impact it would have on their lives.
When he left the Mashriq in 1972 he returned to Birmingham and set up an Urdu interpreting and translating service, edited a bilingual newspaper (Saltley News) and taught.
In the 1980’s as Urdu began to be introduced into British schools, he moved to Peterborough. Where he undertook research into the needs of students interested in learning Urdu in schools and devised teaching methods and materials.
This research resulted in him creating his Qaida (Primer) which was published by the Directorate of Educational Services, Bradford Metropolitan Council, in 1986. An entirely original approach in the teaching of Urdu, the Qaida was highly praised in the Times Educational Supplement.
Since retirement in 1983, he has reviewed bilingual books for the Times Educational Supplement, acted as a language consultant for the BBC School Magazine and as an examiner for the Royal Society of Arts Certificate in the teaching of community languages.
A complete set of Mashriq is held by the British Library in London. Birmingham Central Library is in the process of acquiring his unique library of books and papers for the archive.
Since arriving in Britain, in 1953, Mr Hashmi has been a keen observer of the lives of South Asian immigrants and their offspring.
Today he lives in Small Heath, Birmingham, and is regarded as a leading light in the world of Urdu literature and is consulted by writers from across the globe.