Born in Delhi, Shamim Ahmad is a scion of the Punjabi Sodaran-i-Delhi. He passed the competitive civil service examination in 1964, beginning a career that would place him at the centre of Pakistan’s fiscal administration. Over the decades, he earned a reputation as a thoughtful and reform-minded officer, combining technical competence with a broader analytical outlook on economic governance.
His brief but consequential tenure as chairman of the Central Board of Revenue (1996), now known as the Federal Board of Revenue, came at a time of structural transition. Following his retirement from public service, he entered a remarkably productive literary phase, establishing himself as a serious author with a distinctive psychoanalytic lens.
His book My Friend Mairaj – An Intimate Biography (2024) offers a deeply personal and political portrait of Mairaj Muhammad Khan, a founding figure of the Pakistan People’s Party, capturing both the man and the turbulent era he helped shape. In Zulfikar Ali Bhutto: The Psychodynamics of his Rise and Fall, he presents an original interpretation of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, analyzing the psychological impulses and personality traits that influenced Bhutto’s dramatic political trajectory.
His Torment and Creativity: A Psychoanalytic Study of Literature and Art explores the inner conflicts and emotional forces that drive artistic creation, reflecting Ahmad’s longstanding engagement with literature, psychology, and philosophy. Another notable work, The Last Night, further demonstrates his range as a reflective and probing writer.
Taken together, Shamim Ahmad’s life represents a rare synthesis of high public office and serious intellectual inquiry. His contributions to tax administration helped shape institutional reforms at a critical moment, while his writings have enriched Pakistan’s biographical and psychoanalytic literature, offering nuanced insights into politics, personality, and creativity.
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Shakil Chaudhary is a journalist, author, and researcher. He is an alumnus of Government College, Lahore. He later studied International Relations at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, and Media and Communications at the London School of Economics.
Over the years, he has worked for several leading English-language newspapers and a few other organizations. He is the author of the critically acclaimed bilingual book Handbook of Functional English (Ferozsons), designed to help South Asians improve their English language skills. Prof. Tariq Rahman, one of South Asia’s most distinguished linguistic scholars, has praised the book, calling it “an excellent guide for the South Asian user of the English language.”
Shakil has twice spoken at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C., and has conducted numerous workshops on communication, writing, and critical thinking. He is a founding member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and served as President of the Progressive Writers' Association, Islamabad, from 2021 to 2022. He has attended Rotary’s annual conventions in Toronto and Hamburg.
These are some of his notable interviews:
👉 Sardar Masood Khan, former president, AJK, Part 1: • Copying Tharoor? Shakil Chaudhary Slammed ...
👉 Sardar Masood Khan, former president, AJK, Part 2: • "You Are Representing India," Sardar Masoo...
👉 Ambassador Abdul Basit: • Ambassador Abdul Basit: Pakistan has not d...
👉 Lt. Gen. Asad Durrani: • Lt. Gen. Asad Durrani, former ISI chief: W...
👉 Shahid Siddiqui, a former member of India’s parliament: • Shahid Siddiqui: The partition ruined Indi...
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👉 / shakil.chaudary
👉 / shakchaudhary
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