A noted Urdu litterateur Shamsur Rahman Faruqi from Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh has been chosen by Pakistan for one of its highest civilian awards Sitaara-e-Imtiyaz. Faruui has received this information from Iftikhar Arif, noted Urdu poet and Pakistani scholar who heads the National Language Authority.Born in 1935 Shamsur Rahman Faruqi is an eminent Urdu critic, poet and theorist. He is regarded as the founder of the new movement in Urdu literature and has formulated fresh models of literary appreciation. He has done his post graduation in English from Allahabad University in 1955 and worked as a civil servant in the Indian Postal Department and other departments of the Government of India from 1958-1994 and became Chief Postmaster-General and Member, Postal Services Board, New Delhi. He has been adjunct professor at the South Asia Regional Studies Centre, University of Pennsylvania, USA. He also held the Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan Chair in the Faculty of Humanities at the Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi. He was awarded the Padma Shri last year.Faruqi has said the award would be more than a mere personal achievement and do its bit in bringing about an atmosphere of friendship and mutual trust between both the countries. He said diplomatic relations between the two countries may have had their ups and downs, but writers and poets of India and Pakistan have always remained united.