Remembering CM Naim (1936-2025): The conscience keeper of Urdu, who wrote fearlessly of its politics

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4 days ago

Chaudhary Mohammad Naim, aka CM Naim, who passed away on July 9, 2025, at the age of 89, was a peerless scholar of Urdu literature who wrote prolifically in English. In that sense, Naim was also a conscience keeper since he regularly assessed the works of Urdu legends and Urdu studies in the more exacting standard that writing in English could provide him. He was born in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh and after studying at Lucknow University, Deccan College and the University of California, Berkeley, he remained associated with the University of Chicago for over four decades at the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilisations.
Besides contributing enormously to South Asian studies, he also introduced some prominent and not-so-prominent Urdu literary works to a wider audience. It won't be out of place to call him a one-man industry. Apart from his vast scholarly output, he frequently wrote in the media. Letters to Hindustan Times, EPW and his columns in Outlook stand out for the fresh and sharp perspectives they offered. He never shied away from taking difficult positions. Obituaries published following his passing away rightly mention his books – the most recent one being Urdu Crime Fiction, 1890-1950: An Informal History.
However, equally celebrated and forthright were some of his journal articles and writings in the media. A decade and a half ago, he wrote about the alleged plagiarism by the high priest of Urdu, Gopi Chand Narang. The plagiarism, highlighted by several people, including Fuzail Jaffrey and Imran Bhinder, acquired more weight as Naim expounded on it in his popular Outlook column.
In his quest for objectivity and honest scholarship, even the greatest would come under the scanner. A journal article written in the wake of the 1965 India–Pakistan war examined the attitude and literary output of the prominent Urdu writers in both countries. Naim described Ali Sardar Jafri's piece in Dharmayug as having 'blatantly confused motives' and parts of eminent Hindi writer Kamaleshwar's rejoinder to it as 'unfair'. Khwaja Ahmed Abbas had accused Faiz Ahmed Faiz of tacitly supporting Pakistan's war mongering against India. According to Naim, the 'hypocrisy underlying Abbas' remarks needs no comment.'
One has to read this article to appreciate the nuanced analysis from Naim of an important event that gave him the opportunity to point out certain plain truths. He highlighted that '…the elders of the Progressive Movement who over the years had come to form a kind of literary establishment, controlling magazines, radio and film industry jobs, and cultural embassies.'
What stood out for me was his perceptive observation that two separate literary-cultural identities will emerge that will complement the existing separate national-political identities. Naim did not want Urdu writers to apologise for their politics, which was only stopping them from writing more freely. This was crucial, according to Naim, to generate an atmosphere of greater trust and respect akin to English language writers in England and America.
While Naim had donned the hat of a critic when several of the Progressive Movement legends were alive and he never minced words, some of his critics would seek to reduce his stature by saying that he was teaching elementary Urdu to students in the US! Such invectives didn't bother him. A whole generation of scholars benefited from his stewardship of The Annual of Urdu Studies and his large-heartedness to help those who reached out to him. Although I never met him, I enjoyed and benefited much from our conversations over email, which began over a decade ago.
For someone steeped deep in the Urdu ethos and who grew up in the environs around Lucknow of the 1940s and 1950s, he was uncharacteristically unbeholden to nostalgia. I think that stemmed from his catholicity of views and the ability to look at things from a long-term perspective. Five years ago, in an email he recounted his experience of attending a Progressive Writers Association meeting in Lucknow. 'In 1966, I happened to be in Barabanki when I read that a major meeting of the Association would be held in Lucknow to celebrate the 30th anniversary. I eagerly went and was horrified to see thatthe crowd consisted of fewer than 20 people. In Lucknow – the city where the Association began. In a city full of colleges and one university. Only the old, big names who had survived the years had come.'
Naim held the view that the average Marathi and Bengali scholars knew more about literary theories than Urdu academics. He was also critical of scholars who had notions that a non-native academic could not do justice to Urdu studies. In response to one such tirade, he gave a sharp rejoinder, titling his piece 'Our ungenerous little world of Urdu Studies.'
I have mentioned these nuggets to make the point that CM Naim, the person, was not different from C M Naim the scholar. His life was marked by humility, solid scholarship and measured words. Although it must be pointed out that if the occasion arose, he never shied away from using his meticulous observation and wisdom to great effect. He moved to the US in the late 1950s but continued his annual visits to India.
Lucknow, the city of culture, was a regular visit for Naim, known for its two iconic bookstores: Ram Advani Booksellers in Hazratganj (which closed down in 2016) and Danish Mahal in Aminabad. Naim could easily be one of the most learned and treasured customers of both these stores and his passing away signifies the death of an icon who straddled multiple genres and cultures.