Mohd. Ashifaque Qureshi was born on June 10, 1938 in Delhi’s middle class family. A majority of his family members are engaged in business, however, Mr. Qureshi was much interested in pursuing studies and consequently he was the first postgraduate and remained the most educated person in the family.
He was admitted to Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi for early studies. After passing from Anglo-Arabic Senior Secondary School, he did his BSc. and MSc. (Mathematical Statistics) from Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh in 1962. Then he worked for the Ministry of Food, Government of India for two years and in 1964 he joined Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and retired in 1998 from its constituent establishment, National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (NISTADS) as Scientist-F.
Mr. Qureshi showed keen interest in the subject of Science, Technology and Society (STS). He had been consistently engaged in science policies studies for more than 45 years. Most of his studies/research works pertain to the area of science and amply demonstrate his patience. He contributed a number of monographs, reports, research papers and articles in English, Urdu, and Hindi. He made presentation of results of his research studies in various national and international conferences and seminars. He also visited different countries including the USA, UK, Germany, Canada, Malaysia, Korea, Thailand, Pakistan and Iran in this regard.
Popular Science Writing in English, Urdu and Hindi, mainly book reviews was his main interest. In fact, he started writing in this field during his student life itself. He was persistence to follow science. This was the basic reason that he progressed well in his endeavour. During his entire service and even after retirement, he remained actively involved in the dissemination of science by contributing articles in English, Urdu and Hindi.
He was very closely associated with CSIR’s popular Urdu magazine, namely ‘Science Ki Duniya’ continuously published by the National Institute of Science Communication Resources (NISCAIR). He was member of Advisory Board of this magazine too.
In fact, he started contributing massively, particularly, during 1970s in Urdu on various sciences based issues. His articles remained in forefront discussions most of which pertain to the subjects including benefits of science and technology for a common man, scientific interpretation of today’s life, science and technology in the 21st century, etc.
His majority of studies/research works pertain to the area of science policy and planning, international cooperation in science and technology. As a project leader, he was associated with many national and international projects. He has published about a dozen of books and more than 100 popular science articles. He amply demonstrated his patience in his field of interest. He made presentation of results of his research studies, in various national and international conferences and seminars. Writing book reviews in English, Urdu and Hindi was his main interests.
In 2000, for his outstanding services in popular science in Urdu, Delhi Urdu Academy awarded him ‘Award braye Sciency Adab’. A book titled, ‘Muslims in India’ was published by Government of India and its Part-II pertains to contribution of Muslims in Science and Technology after independence’ which was also contributed by MA Qureshi. This book was meant for distribution to the foreign embassies.
Mr. Qureshi was President of 24-year old registered NGO, viz. Mewat Development Society (MDS), Chharora, Haryana which shows his acceptance among people beyond his own community. In 2005 a book titled, ‘Yoga Ki Science Aur Sehat’ in Urdu written by Mr. Qureshi was published by Mewat Development Society (MDS) which was highly appreciated and awarded by Delhi Urdu Academy. Besides, he was also awarded by Bihar Urdu Academy and West Bengal Urdu academy. His book in English, ‘Indian Science and Technology Development Policies’ was also published in 2006 by Mewat Development Society (MDS) and received well by the stakeholders.
One of the personality traits of Mr. Qureshi was that he was easily accessible, very polite and helpful to everybody and commanded respect.
Mr. Qureshi breathed his last on January 7, 2011 at New Delhi at the age of about 72 years.
[MOHD KHALIL is Ex Scientist, NISCAIR & Former Editor Science Ki Duniya]