Majeed Amjad

Amjad was born on 29 June 1914 in Jhang,[1] a small town in the Pakistani province of Punjab. He was taught by his maternal grandfather. Then for a few years he studied Arabic and Persian at a local mosque before enrolling in first grade in a government school. He obtained his Matriculation certificate in the first division from Islamia High School, Jhang.[1] Two years later he completed his Intermediate exam, also in the first division from Government College, Jhang.[1] Later he moved to Lahore for higher education that was not available in Jhang. He eventually received his bachelor's degree in 1934 from Islamia College, Lahore.[1]

During the great depression economic opportunities were limited even for educated people like Amjad, who returned to Jhang and joined a weekly newspaper named Arooj.[5] He remained as an editor of the newspaper until 1939 and regularly published his own prose and poetry. At the advent of the Second World War, a poem of his against the British Empire was printed on the front page of Arooj and he was forced to leave the newspaper. After that he found a job as a clerk in the Jhang District Board. In 1944, the government set up a civil supplies department to ration food and clothing.[1] He passed an entrance exam and joined this department and served on with the Food Department until his retirement in 1972. He lived in many small and large towns all over Punjab during his employment with the Food Department including Lyallpur (now Faisalabad), Gojra, Muzaffargarh, Rawalpindi,Arifwala, Lahore and Montgomery. In 1939 he married his cousin, a school teacher, but they had different opinions and divorced.[1] Amjad lived the last 28 years in Sahiwal, while his wife stayed in Jhang. He died on 11 May 1974.[1]