Qalam Pakistan Initiative

Qalam Pakistan Initiative (QPI) is a donor funded program, in the History Department, to help foster and promote the study of the history of Pakistan at Columbia and in NYC. QPI is currently coordinated by faculty member Manan Ahmed and visiting faculty Dr. Tahira Khan.

Columbia University has had a long and storied relationship with Pakistan since its independence in 1947. The first Prime Minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, was given an honorary Law degree at Columbia during his inaugural visit to the United States in 1950. In 1951, Pakistan’s Government announced a gift to create a “Center for Pakistan Studies” in the planned Near and Middle East. This was realized in 1953 as a gift of $25,000 annually for ten years. Shahid Suhrawady was the first visiting Professor under the Center. Professor of History, Ainslee T. Embree (1921-2017) would spearhead a number of initiatives including hosting of prominent Pakistani bureaucrat-historians–SM Ikram (1908-1973) and IH Qureshi (1903-1981)–at Columbia in the 50s until 1965. The funding was ceased after the war of 1965.

It was revived, in September 1973, when Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in NY for the UN, announced a “Quaid-e-Azam Distinguished Professor of Pakistan Studies” at Columbia to be housed in School of International Affairs (part of a series of such Chairs around the world). The first Chair was Dr. Manzooruddin Ahmad (1976-79) and the last scholar appointed was in 2009. The Chair has been vacant since 2011-12.

QPI aims to promote and strengthen the study of history in and about Pakistan. It has sponsored book talks, workshops, and cultural events since 2022.  QPI works closely with the Center for Study of Muslim Societies and South Asia Institute at Columbia.

QPI Sponsored Events:

  • Fall 2022: Grammy-Winning Artist Arooj Aftab in Sold Out Concert at Symphony Space.
  • Spring 2023: Historian Ali Raza on “A War of Succession: Partition, Decolonization and Paramilitary Violence in South Asia”
  • Fall 2023: Historian Hafsa Kanjwal on “Colonizing Kashmir”
  • Fall 2023: Farid Ayaz and Abu Muhammad Qawwal Group Concert at St Paul’s Chapel
  • Spring 2024: The Aftermath of Partition: Understanding the Occupations of Kashmir & Palestine
  • Fall 2024: “Come This is the Way:” An Evening of Hindustani Poetry & Music
  • Fall 2024: Peter DeGabriele on “Deferred Extermination: Jonathan Swift and Drone Warfare”

Event Posters:

 

 

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