Khaled Ahmed (writer)
{{Short description|Pakistani writer and journalist (1943–2024)}}
{{other people|Khaled Ahmed}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
Khaled Ahmed (12 February, 1943 – 17 November 2024) was a Pakistani journalist and writer. He received the Presidential Pride of Performance Medal in 2013.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=18 November 2024 |title=Khaled Ahmed, renowned journalist, passes away |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/2510312/veteran-journalist-khaled-ahmed-passes-away |access-date=22 November 2024 |website=The Express Tribune |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=18 November 2024 |title='One Of Pakistan's Best Minds': Veteran Journalist, Intellectual Khaled Ahmed Passes Away |url=https://thefridaytimes.com/18-Nov-2024/one-of-pakistan-s-best-minds-veteran-journalist-intellectual-khaled-ahmed-passes-away |access-date=22 November 2024 |website=The Friday Times |language=en}} Khaled was a maternal uncle of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.{{cite news|url=https://aurora.dawn.com/news/1145279/the-courage-to-doubt-khaled-ahmed-1943-2024|title=The Courage to Doubt: Khaled Ahmed (1943-2024)|author=Fasih Ahmed|publisher=Dawn|date=29 November 2024}}
File:Khaled Ahmed - Pakistani writer, scholar, intellectual.jpg
Early life and education
Ahmed was born in Jalandhar, Punjab on 12 February, 1943. After the Partition of India, he moved to Lahore, settling in Zaman Park. He graduated from the Government College Lahore in 1965, and later the University of the Punjab, while also earning diplomas in German and Russian language (Moscow University, 1970).{{Cite web |title=Noted writer, intellectual Khaled Ahmed passes away |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1252233-noted-writer-intellectual-khaled-ahmed-passes-away |access-date=22 November 2024 |website=www.thenews.com.pk |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=18 November 2024 |title=Khaled Ahmed |url=https://dailytimes.com.pk/1240789/khaled-ahmed/ |access-date=22 November 2024 |website=Daily Times |language=en-US}}
Career
Before starting his career as a diplomat in Pakistan's Foreign Service in 1969, Khaled Ahmed had a brief stint with Sohail Ifthikar's Nigarishat Publishers, where he helped translate Niccolao Manucci's Storia Do Mogor (Mogul India; 1653-1708) to Urdu.{{Cite web |last=Aijazuddin |first=F. S. |date=21 November 2024 |title=Romancing the word |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1873801 |access-date=22 November 2024 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=19 November 2024 |title=Requiescat in pace, Dearest K |url=https://thefridaytimes.com/19-Nov-2024/requiescat-in-pace-dearest-k |access-date=22 November 2024 |website=The Friday Times |language=en}}
After leaving the Foreign Services, he wrote several books and wrote for The Pakistan Times, The Nation, The Frontier Post, Daily Times, The Friday Times, Newsweek (Pakistan), and most recently Pakistan Standard, where he was the Consulting Editor.{{cite web |title=In Memoriam: Khaled Ahmed |url=https://www.pakistanstandard.com/in-tribute-khaled-ahmed-1943-2024/ |website=Pakistan Standard |access-date=22 November 2024}}
From 1991 to 1993, he was part of the Founding team of the India-Pakistan Neemrana Dialogue, Track Two Diplomacy.{{Cite web |title=Khaled Ahmed |url=https://www.libertybooks.com/index.php?route=product/author/info&author_id=15686&srsltid=AfmBOor315N00MRjpIw6w0OuNHs6EHwcaQCwm8TBGvXH6wlP31fkszWg |access-date=22 November 2024 |website=www.libertybooks.com}} Between 2010 and 2013, he served as the Director of South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA).{{Cite web |title=Advisory board |url=https://www.pakpips.com/advisory-board |access-date=22 November 2024 |website=Pak Institute For Peace Studies Pvt Ltd. (PIPS) |language=en-US}}
Death
Writings
Ahmed authored 20 books, mainly on socio-political issues of Pakistan.{{Cite web |title=Khaled Ahmed |url=https://www.penguin.co.in/book_author/khaled-ahmed/ |access-date=22 November 2024 |website=Penguin Random House India |language=en-US}}
- Pakistan: Behind the Ideological Mask, 2011, published by Vanguard Books Lahore
- Sectarian War : Pakistan's Sunni-Shia Violence and Its Links to the Middle East, 2011 published by Oxford University Press, Pakistan, written while at Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington D.C
- Sleepwalking to Surrender: Dealing with Terrorism in Pakistan, 2016 published by Penguin Books, UK
- Pakistan's Terror Conundrum, 2020, Penguin Books
Awards
References
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Category:Journalists from Lahore