www.AkmalAleemi.net
Biography of Akmal Aleemi
AKMAL ALEEMI is an eminent Pakistani-American journalist, newspaper editor, author of books, ex-lecturer of journalism, former television telecaster and ex-radio broadcaster based in Woodbridge, Virginia, USA. He became the Editor of Dunya International, a weekly Urdu-English newspaper published from Maryland, USA, in 2009.
During the past 35 years, from 1973 to 2008, Akmal Aleemi worked as a senior Editor, Producer and International Broadcaster of the Voice of America Urdu Radio in Washington, DC, USA. He anchored the VOA Radio’s wonderful feature programs: Roundtable forum, Islam in America and Life in America. He regularly wrote news reports and articles about Pakistan, other Asian nations and the USA for the VOA news service and the UrduVOA.com Website.
Mr. Aleemi earned the VOA special award in September 1998, which reads: “United States Information Agency (USIA) – Voice of America (VOA) Superior Accomplishment Award is granted to Akmal Aleemi for your long standing contributions to the NEA & SCA divisions and the House in covering Congressional affairs, as well as various aspects of Muslim society and culture in the U.S., and the interactions of the American Muslim community with other religious groups in interfaith activities. – Moazzam Siddiqi, Director, South and Central Asia Division, Voice of America (VOA), Washington, DC.”
In November 2003, Mr. Aleemi received the VOA special certificate, which states: “Voice of America official recognition and appreciation are tendered to Akmal Aleemi for completion of 30 years of service with the United States Government. – David S. Jackson, Director, Voice of America (VOA), Washington, DC.”
Mr. Aleemi was a Congressional Fellow, sponsored by the American Political Science Association (APSA). He worked at the U.S. Congress under U.S. Rep. Frank Bradford Morse (R-MA), the late Under Secretary General for Political & General Assembly Affairs at the United Nations, and former U.S. Congress Member Bill Richardson (D-NM), ex-U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, ex-Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy and current Governor of New Mexico, USA.
Before joining the VOA in 1973, Akmal Aleemi worked as Chief Reporter and Columnist of the daily Imroze Urdu newspaper which was published from Lahore, Pakistan. He wrote the famous, daily Harf-o-Hikayat (Words & Stories) column of daily Imroze for many years. He was a Reporter for Afaq, Ehsaan, Tarjuman and Tasneem newspapers. He also served as a Writer for the Punjab Government’s Information & Culture Department.
Information Press, The Pakistan Times, The Muslim, The Post, daily Pakistan, The Friday Times, Dunya International, The Tribune, the USIA Panorama magazine and several other publications have also published many news reports, columns and articles written by this professional journalist.
Akmal Aleemi
Akmal Aleemi anchored the Pakistan Television’s (PTV) popular series Ham Log (We the People) and broadcasted his educational commentaries through the Radio Pakistan. He has interviewed many eminent persons, public figures and senior government officials of Pakistan, South Asia and the USA, including former President & Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and ex-President & Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He also anchored live telecast of the meeting between Pakistan’s ex-Prime Minister Bhutto and ex-U.S. President Gerald R. Ford at the White House, which was aired by Pakistan Television (PTV) and America’s CBS News. The illustrious journalist has covered the White House, U.S. State Department, U.S. Congress, United Nations, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Kashmir, Afghanistan, South Asia and the United States of America (USA).
Akmal Aleemi inspired a writer and a publisher to write and publish a comprehensive commentary on the Quran. Maktaba Jadeed Press (Lahore) CEO and Publisher Rasheed Ahmed Chaudhary has written in his introduction of Tafseer-e-Fazli, a Commentary on the Holy Quran, that chief of Fazli Foundation (Lahore) Muhammad Ashraf Fazli wrote this Quran commentary – which was narrated by Hazrat Fazal Shah (1878-1978), a great scholar of Islam – and Mr. Chaudhary published it after reading a literary essay of Mr. Aleemi about Mr. Shah, headlined ‘House of Enlightenment – Where Action is a Witness of Expressions’, which was published in the daily Imroze.
In the Tafseer-e-Fazli, Rasheed Ahmed Chaudhary wrote in Urdu: ‘Readers, who were aware of the literary status of Mr. Akmal Aleemi, highly respected and deeply appreciated his daily Imroze article. After reading the literary essay of Mr. Aleemi about Hazrat Fazal Shah, many people traveled to the home (renowned as Noor Walun Ka Dera) of Fazal Shah in Mustafabad (Dharampura) Lahore, Pakistan, to meet with Mr. Shah and to seek education, knowledge, enlightenment, salvation and self-reformation.’ The Tafseer-e-Fazli – a prestigious book of wisdom and knowledge about Allah (God), Prophet Muhammad, Quran, Islam and Islamic History – has been printed in 5 Urdu and 5 English volumes.
After earning his Master of Arts (M.A.) degree in Urdu Language & Literature from University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan, Akmal Aleemi served as a Lecturer in Journalism at the Punjab University’s Institute of Communication Studies (ICS), formerly called Department of Mass Communication and Department of Journalism. He received his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Political Science, History and English Literature from the Punjab University.
Akmal Aleemi’s noted essay about the role of journalism in Pakistan freedom movement and nation-building has been published in the Punjab University’s Urdu Encyclopaedia of Islam, Pakistan Chapter, Vol. 5, pages 545-555. The Urdu Encyclopaedia of Islam is a great literary achievement of the Punjab University. It is an endeavor to produce a resource book of authentic nature on Islamic topics in the Urdu language. It consists of 24 volumes (26 parts), covering 9,773 topics, spread over 19,784 pages.
Mr. Aleemi is an honorary examiner of Ph.D. studies in journalism & mass communication, and an honorary panelist for the assessment of applications/papers of the candidates for the positions of Professor, Assistant Professor and Lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, previously known as the Department of Journalism, University of Karachi, Pakistan.
Urdu books of Akmal Aleemi include: Mecca Diary (Sang-e-Meel Publications), The Siege of Mecca (Vanguard Books), Islam in America (Jang Publishers Press), Passenger of the New World (Sheikh Ghulam Ali & Sons Publishers), Third Woman, and Barren Lands, which are preserved at the U.S. Library of Congress.
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