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The Wire
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Wire
One of Urdu's Greatest Scholars, C.M. Naim, Passes Away
Books The UP-born professor was said to be among the finest and authoritative voices on Urdu. Naim was Professor Emeritus of South Asian Languages and Civilisations at the University of Chicago – a position which capped his decade-long association with the university where he taught from 1961 to 2001. He chaired the South Asian Languages and Civilisations department from 1985 to 1991. A founding editor of many journals and prolific commentator, his voice resonated on all matters to do with Urdu language, culture and its politics as things got dire for Urdu in the sub-continent, the place of its birth. He has been Consultant to the Asian Literature Program of the Asia Society, New York City, Princeton University Press, University of Chicago Press, University of California Press, Feminist Press, Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He had also served as Member, South Asia Regional Council, Association for Asian Studies, 1976-79, of the Committee on Scholars of Asian Descent, Association for Asian Studies, 1981-84, then South Asia Regional Council, Association for Asian Studies, 1990-93. He has been on the Advisory Committee, Berkeley Urdu Language Program in Pakistan, University of California, Berkeley, as well as Member, Board of Trustees, America-Pakistan Research Organization, 1989-93 and also Member, Board of Trustees, American Institute of Pakistan Studies, 1993-95. Naim unhesitatingly tackled political issues along with his serious work on pure literary debates. In 1989, after a visit to Palestine, he wrote powerful words on what he saw, words that are especially relevant today. One of his more recent works, an example of his enduring connection to all that was Urdu, was Urdu Crime Fiction, 1890–1950: An Informal History which came out in 2023. How did Naim feel on his first day in the United States? His observations were recalled as friends and colleagues remembered his contributions and tributes poured in. CM Naim, titan of Urdu studies, has passed. Here's his account of his first day in the US : — Holden Cauliflower (@CFLHolden) July 10, 2025 Renowned Urdu scholar, Professor C.M. Naim, has passed away. May he rest in peace. Was honoured to call him a friend. Choudhri Mohammed Naim (3 June 1936 - 9 July 2025) — Musharraf Ali Farooqi (@microMAF) July 10, 2025 For The Wire, Naim wrote sadly on how there is now no major Urdu newspaper or magazine that is edited by a non-Muslim and how in the past 75 years, the culture of Urdu magazines read by families of all faiths has disappeared. In another piece full of characteristic edge, Naim gently chastised brands for never using the letter 'j' while transliterating Urdu words. The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Calligraphy created by executed assassin breaking auction records
Calligraphy by a South Korean independence hero, created while awaiting execution for assassinating a Japanese leader, is breaking new auction records in Seoul, as the country's ultra-rich seek to bring historic artwork home. Revered in the South for his efforts to defend the country against Japanese encroachment, Ahn Jung-geun is best known for his dramatic, high-stakes assassination of Japan's first prime minister, Ito Hirobumi, in 1909 at a train station in Harbin. Ahn shouted "Hurrah for Korea!" as he was arrested, according to the Association for Asian Studies based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He was hanged for the killing by Japanese authorities in 1910, just months before Tokyo formally annexed the Korean Peninsula, ushering in a brutal period of occupation that lasted until the end of World War II. Now, more than a century after his death, the calligraphy Ahn created in his prison cell during his final days — typically at the request of Japanese officials — is drawing fresh attention in Seoul's glitzy art scene. In South Korea, Ahn's life has long inspired artists across generations, giving rise to a highly celebrated musical, multiple novels, and films — including one starring "Crash Landing on You" actor Hyun Bin. Ahn was held in his prison cell in China for about 40 days leading up to his execution and he kept himself busy writing an autobiography and making hundreds of calligraphy pieces, including one requested by his own prison guard. "The court and prison officials, saying they wanted to keep my calligraphy as a memento, brought me hundreds of sheets of silk and paper and asked me to create for them," Ahn wrote in his autobiography. "I ended up spending several hours each day doing calligraphy, even though I wasn't particularly skilled in it." Even though Ahn had assassinated their top official Ito, the Japanese who took his calligraphy preserved them with care, and some of their descendants have donated them to the South Korean government, which subsequently designated them as national treasures. Now, more of the calligraphies are surfacing in the private art market, with the latest being auctioned last month in Seoul for 940 million won ($674,098) — more than three times its opening bid. The piece, which says "green bamboo" — a traditional symbol of integrity — had been owned by a Japanese individual who did not wish to be identified, and they had done an impeccable job preserving it, said Kim Jun-seon, art valuation specialist at Seoul Auction. "It wasn't even mounted and was still rolled up, but when we opened the case, the scent of ink still lingered in the air," she told AFP. "Misguided but principled idealist" Japan said Ahn was a criminal and terrorist and refused to hand over his remains. They have never been located. Moves to honor Ahn by Seoul and Beijing have previously strained ties with Tokyo, even briefly sparking a diplomatic row in 2013. In 2014, Japan criticized a memorial built in China to commemorate Ahn, BBC News reported. A Japanese government spokesman branded him a terrorist after the Chinese-Korean memorial hall opened in China's Harbin city, where Ito was shot. The fact that his Japanese captors preserved his calligraphy "reflects the cultural and political contradictions of early 20th century East Asia," said Eugene Y. Park, a history professor at University of Nevada, Reno. At his trial, Ahn identified himself as a soldier for Korea, defined his assassination of Ito as a military operation, and envisioned a united East Asia — comprising Korea, China and Japan — somewhat akin to today's European Union. "Some Japanese may have seen him as a misguided but principled idealist," Park told AFP. His calligraphy, which focused on values such as peace and ethics, "resonated culturally, even if he opposed them politically," he said. "At a time when Japan's own imperial identity was unsettled, preserving his works revealed deeper tensions between respect for moral courage and the pursuit of colonial domination." In 2023, the Global Sae-A Group, a South Korean conglomerate, purchased one of Ahn's calligraphies for a record-breaking 1.95 billion won (nearly $1.4 million). The piece "Green Bamboo" was sold at auction last month to the family of South Korea's LS Group. "We expressed our intention to bring the piece back to Korea and share it with the public," Joung Tae-hee at Seoul Auction said, adding that the Japanese owner agreed to sell after hearing their proposal. Lee Sang-hyun, of the LS Group family, told AFP that his mother "hopes many citizens will be able to see this piece and that it will also be studied," and they are considering donating it to a national institution. Ahn became a Catholic as a teenager and ends his autobiography with the words of Nicolas Joseph Marie Wilhelm, a French priest and missionary stationed in Korea, who traveled to his prison to see the activist and give him confession. The priest — who had also baptized Ahn and was a longtime friend — was disciplined for his trip, and was later forced to return to France. "The gracious lord will never abandon you," Wilhelm told Ahn. "He will surely take you in, so rest your heart and go in peace." Texas mom accused of buying ammunition for son who officials say planned school attack Hearing on Kilmar Abrego Garcia case; DHS wants National Guard troops to help with deportations These Republicans voted against the reconciliation bill in House Budget Committee
