Kazi Abdul Jaleel ( Sindhi: '' قاضي عبدالجليل''; born 1936 in

Rohri Rohri ( Sindhi: روهڙي; ) is a city of Sukkur District, Sindh province, Pakistan. It is located on the east bank of the Indus River, located directly across from Sukkur, the third largest city in Sindh. Rohri town is the administrative headqu ...

), popularly known as Amar Jaleel, is a Sindhi fiction writer and a

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

whose columns appear in various Sindhi,

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

and English-language dailies of Pakistan. He has authored 20 books, and received awards including

Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance (), officially known as the Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sp ...

, the highest literary award in Pakistan, and Akhal Bharat Sindhi Sahat Sabha National Award (India).

Early life

Jaleel started writing stories when he was 10 years old. He played for his NJV School and also featured briefly in first class cricket as a wicketkeeper-batsman.

Professional career

Amar Jaleel started his career at Radio Pakistan,

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

before being transferred to

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

, where he worked in different positions at radio and educational institutions. Now retired, Jaleel currently resides in Karachi, Sindh, where he spends his leisure time writing articles for various Pakistan newspapers, and is known as a popular columnist for ''

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...

'' and ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

'' currently working with a private regional Sindhi TV channel as anchor program class room.

Thinking

As a left-wing political analyst he has repeatedly returned to one theme: why partition was wrong. Amar Jaleel is a prominent

polemicist Polemic ( , ) is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called polemics, which are seen in arguments on controversial to ...

against the

All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party founded in 1906 in Dhaka, British India with the goal of securing Muslims, Muslim interests in South Asia. Although initially espousing a united India with interfaith unity, the Muslim L ...

Criticism

In 2017, during

Sindh Literature Festival Sindh Literature Festival or Sindh Adabi Melo () is an annual two-day festival that aims to promote and preserve the heritage of Indus while bring up social change through the celebration of indigenous languages, arts, history, education, archa ...

, Jaleel read a story ''خدا گم ٿي ويو'' (''Khuda gum thee wayo'', The God disappeared). Video of the session went viral on social media in March 2021. The video irked religious fundamentalists and they took his views as blasphemy of God. Jaleel was threatened to death by religious extremists. His opponents used Twitter and other social media networks to get him arrested and hanged publicly. While his supporters showed solidarity with him.

Books

He has written hundreds of short stories in Sindhi; he has also written one novel in Sindhi titled ''Naith Gongey Ghalahyo'' نيٺ گونگي ڳالهايو ("Thus Dumb Spoke"). Some of Amar Jaleel's best known books are: * Indra اندرا * Sindhu Muhinje Saah Mein سنڌو منهنجي ساھ ۾ * Dil Jee Duniya دل جي دنيا * Jadanh Maa'n Na Hoondus جڏهن مان نه هوندس * Tareekh Jo Kafan تاريخ جو ڪفن * Munhinjo Dus Aasman Khan Puchho منهنجو ڏس آسمان کان پڇو * Tiyoon Wujood ٽيون وجود * Raani Kot jo Khazano رڻي ڪوٽ جو خزانو * Jeejal Mohanje Mao جيجل منهنجي ماءُ * Chandd Wisaami Wayo. چنڊ وسامي ويو * Adab Aen Siyasat ادب ۽ سياست *Sarad Laash Jo Safar سرد لاش جو سفر *Lahndar Sijj Je Laaam لهندڙ سج جي لام *Sindh Naamo سنڌ نامو *Sindhu Baqa Ain Maan Fana Ahyan سندو بقا ۽ مان فنا آهيان. *Aatam katha *He Sindh muhnji ta naahy *Fida Hussain Phdine, Dhani Bakhash Dhane Aen Phndan Ja Kaalum. فدا حسين ڦودني، ڌڻي بخش ڌني ۽ ڦندڻ جا ڪالم https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sir-Amar-Jaleel-Abdul-Jaleel-Qazi/170964249623560?ref=hl
Wichaar
a web portal, has printed a book of Amar Jaleel's selected stories in Punjabi translation. The book's title is ''Amar Kahanian''.

Articles and essays

* To Define Sufism * A Professor with a Fake Degree * Wither Sufism * Enigmatic History in a Nutshell * Betrayed * Antithesis of Sufism * From Nowhere to Everywhere * The Evil Within Uus

Awards and recognition

References

External links

Urdu Columns of Amar Jalil
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaleel, Amar Pakistani novelists Sindhi writers 1936 births Living people Recipients of the Pride of Performance Pakistani male short story writers Pakistani short story writers Writers from Karachi