Dr.Asghar Ali Engineer Lifetime Achievement Award for the year 2021
Centre for Study of Society and Secularism is pleased to announce that the Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer Lifetime Achievement Award, 2021 is conferred upon Prof. Abdus Sattar Dalvi.
Prof.Dalvi has made a seminal contribution to Urdu literature through his writings and translations of Marathi literature into Urdu.
Prof.Dalvi is a noted scholar who has worked for linguistic and literary integration between Urdu, Marathi, Hindi and English Languages. He has done pioneering work of bringing Urdu and Marathi closer to each other by editing rare manuscripts. He has translated Marathi works such as classic Marathi poem “Manache Shlok” by Saint Poet Ramdas and “Pasaidan” composed by the famous Marathi Saint Poet Dnyaneshwar into Urdu. He translated three Marathi novelettes, viz.Savitri and Avalokita written by P. S. Rege and Ranangan by Vishram Bedekar into Urdu. The last one got him Sahitya Akademi’s Prestigious Translation Prize in 1990. He also translated “Edinburgh – Interlude” (Zikr-e-Edinburgh) by famous Indian English poet Nissim Ezekiel into Urdu, which was widely acclaimed by the scholarly world.
In his illustrious career spanning over 5 decades, Prof. Dalvi has contributed immensely to building and nurturing institutions. He was founder director of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Research Centre (Hindustani Prachar Sabha), Mumbai. He tirelessly worked to popularize Hindustani and worked for bridging the gap between Urdu and Hindi. He edited and introduced Amir Khusro to the Hindi world and Tulsidasa’s Brajbhasha (Hindi) poetry to the Urdu world. He very ably edited Amrit Bani a collection of Urdu and Hindi Poetry. He was the first Krishan Chander professor and founder Head of Department of Urdu at the University of Mumbai and former Executive Chairperson of Maharashtra State Urdu Sahitya Academy. He has the honour of being deputed by the Government of India to Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt to establish the Department of Urdu there, which he did most ably in a highly appreciable manner.
He is a recipient of numerous awards which are given as a token of recognition for his pioneering work in the field of Urdu literature and translations. The awards include the prestigious Ghalib Award of Ghalib Academy Delhi, Sant Dnyaneshwar Award of Maharashtra State Urdu Academy, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Award of Uttar Pradesh Urdu Academy, Rajasthan Urdu Academy Award and West Bengal Urdu Academy Award.
Prof. Abdus Sattar Dalvi has dedicated his life to bringing Urdu, Hindi and Marathi world of literature and through literature, these communities closer. He strove to integrate these gems of literature making them more accessible to all and promoting shared culture.
Hence, we the members of Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, Central Board of Dawoodi Bohra Community, Institute of Islamic Studies and Bohra Youth Sansthan take it as a privilege and honour to present the Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer Lifetime Achievement Award, 2021 to Prof. Abdus Sattar Dalvi on 6th June, 2022.
