The Urdu Chair at McGill

I am the second holder of the Chair in Urdu Language and Culture, after Prof. Sajida Alvi. The Urdu Chair was established in 1986, following efforts by Institute of Islamic Studies Director Prof. Donald P. Little. Prof. Little met with the Pakistani dictator General Zia ul-Haqq at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal in 1982. The Chair was ultimately funded with contributions by the Canadian Ministry of Multiculturalism, the Government of Pakistan, the Institute of Islamic Studies, and the National Federation of Pakistani Canadians.

On May 28, 1986, the Principal's Committee on Private Funding approved the following terms of reference:

Chair in Urdu Language and Culture: Established in the Institute of Islamic Studies of McGill and funded from monies raised by the Institute. The occupant of the Chair will be responsible for teaching Urdu Language courses, conducting courses and seminars, and performing research in the history and literature of the Urdu- speaking people of Pakistan, the Indian sub-continent, and other areas, including Canada.

Prof. Alvi, who had received tenure at the University of Minnesota, took up the Chair in June 1986, and retired in 2010. I became the Chair in urdu Language and Culture in 2012.