Fakhar Zaman

Fakhar Zaman was the chairman of the Pakistan Academy of Letters from 11 May 2008 to 12 March 2012, when Abdul Hameed succeeded him. A leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the chairman of the World Punjabi Congress, he has also been playing a notable role in politics to achieve his sociopolitical ideals.

He is a celebrated Pakistani writer who is author of 40 books in Punjabi, Urdu and English. His Punjabi novels and poetry have been translated into several major languages of the world and are taught at post-graduate level in different countries for students seeking PhD and M.Phil degrees. Thesis have been written on his Punjabi writings in India. Five of his Punjabi books including his modern classic novel "Bandiwan" (The Prisoner), were banned, forcibly lifted from book stores and burned publicly by the military government in 1978 and after a long drawn litigation, the ban was lifted after 18 years.

He has received several international and national awards including the Hilal-e-Imtiaz and Sitara-e-Imtiaz awards by the Pakistan government, Shiromani Sahitak Award from the Indian government and the Millennium Award for Best Punjabi Novelist of the 20th century.

Minister of Culture Fakhar Zaman attended UNESCO conferences in Paris during this period. He was the architect of first ever Cultural Policy of Pakistan promulgated in 1995.

Post-Martial Law Fakhar Zaman's five books were banned by the Military Regime of General Zia-UL-Haq, forcibly lifted from the book shops and burnt publicly. After a litigation of 18 years, the ban was lifted by Lahore High Court in 1996.

In 1984, he spent a few months in Stockholm University, Sweden attending seminars and lecturing on social sciences. He writes in Urdu, Punjabi and English language and till date has authored nearly 40 books. He was in Jail for months during the martial law period where he started writing his famous Punjabi novel "Bandiwan" His Punjabi writings have been translated into major languages in the world and are taught at post-graduate level in Pakistan, India and some foreign countries. A number of PhD and M-Phil theses have been written on his Punjabi novels and poetry in India.

Assassination of Benazir Bhutto When Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on 27 December 2007, he was in Vienna, Austria. When he took over as chairman Pakistan Academy of Letters in 2008, he published a number of books on the life and thoughts of 'Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed'. The history of PPP and the chronological events since the foundation of the party in 1967 has been written by Fakhar Zaman on the website of PPP.

Chairman Academy of Letters During his chairmanship of Pakistan Academy of Letters (11 May 2008 – 12 March 2012), he produced fourteen documentaries in English on the Sufi poets of Pakistan of about 40 minutes duration each. The documentaries were appreciated nationally and internationally. They were directed by Fakhar Zaman who had a background of film and TV studies from a Canadian university.

World Punjabi Congress World Punjabi Congress (WPC) was established in 1985. Since its inception, Fakhar Zaman served as its chairman, and he has been the Chairman of International Sufi Council since 2010. WPC has organized 30 international conferences on language, literature, culture and peace in Pakistan, India, Austria, France, Netherlands, UK, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Estonia, Canada and the US. During 2015, WPC and ISC (International Sufi Council) organized 12 national conferences on Sufi Poets from the four provinces of Pakistan.

"Punjabi" Chirian Da Chamba (Radio Plays) 1971 Wan Da Boota (Radio Plays) 1972 Kanso Wailey Dee (Poetry) (Also translated into English) 1973 Wangaar (Poetry) (Also translated into English) 1974 Sat Gawachay Lok (Novel) 1977 Ik Marey Bandey Di Kahani (Novel) 1984 Bandiwan (Novel) 1987 Bewatna (Novel) 1996 Kamzat (Novel) 2003 Zwal Di Ghari (Poetry) 2004 Toon Key Mein (Novel) 2005 Fakhar Zaman – A biography 2005 Punjab, Punjabi Tey Punjabiat 1970

"English" Pakistani Writers (An Empirical Study) Bhutto, The Political Thinker Prisoner (Novel) – translated from Punjabi – 2005 Deadman's Tale (Novel) – translated from Punjabi The Lost Seven (Novel) – translated from Punjabi The Alien (Novel) – translated from Punjabi Low Born (Novel) – translated from Punjabi Outcast (Novel) – translated from Punjabi Portrait of a Prime Minister – Z.A. Bhutto (Compiler) Profile of a Leader – Benazir Bhutto (Compiler) Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto – Glimpses from the Jail File You or I (Novel) – translated from Punjabi – 2005

Awards Has been awarded many International Awards on his writings. He was awarded prestigious "Sitara-i-Imtiaz" for Literature by the Government of Pakistan in 1994.

Job experience Chairman, Pakistan Academy of Letters, Islamabad –Pakistan ( 11 May 2008 – 12 March 2012). Federal Minister – Chairman, National Commission on History & Culture and Pakistan Academy of Letters (1994–96). Chief Editor, literary quarterly "Adabiyat" and "Pakistani Literature" (from 1994 to 1996). Chairman, World Punjabi Congress. Member, Senate of Pakistan (1977). President, Pakistan Peoples Party, Punjab (1989–92). President (Cultural Wing), Pakistan Peoples Party. President, Policy Planning Committee (PB) Pakistan Peoples Party. Member, Federal Council Pakistan Peoples Party. Chairman, Pakistan Democratic Writer's Convention. Chairman, Pakistan National Committee for World Cultural Decade (UNESCO). Political Adviser to Begum Nusrat Bhutto (1973–77). Chairman of the Academic Council of the International Institute of Central Asian Studies, Samarkand, Uzbekistan (1995–96). Chairman of the International Congress of Writers, Artists and Intellectuals (ICWAI).