By TwoCircles.net staff reporter
New Delhi : The lovers of Urdu organised programmes at various places in the country Saturday to mark International Urdu Day on the 130th birth anniversary of the Poet of the East Allama Iqbal.
Speaking as Chief Guest in a programme organised under the joint aegis of United Muslim of India and Urdu Development Organisation in the Department of Urdu Delhi University, chairman National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions Justice Suhail Ejaz Siddiqui advised the lovers of Urdu, for the promotion of the language, to take different practical measures on their own rather than only depending on the government.
"It is easy to read Allama Iqbal but difficult to understand him. It requires one full span of life to understand his thought and philosophy. He is not one of the poets who are read as pastime," Justice Siddiqui said.
Addressing the gathering, former Head Department of Urdu Delhi University Professor Abdul Haque remarked it is rightly said that no one can emerge as a great Urdu poet without studying Iqbal and Ghalib and that no one can surpass Allama Iqbal even in the next ten centuries.
"In a country like Russia 23 books on Iqbal have been produced as yet, and there are 21 books on Iqbal
written in the Arabic language. This is enough to show his greatness," he said.
Bringing the contribution of Urdu into limelight, Head Department of Urdu Delhi University Professor Ibn Kanwal said, "We have been celebrating First War of Independence 1857. This Freedom Movement was started with the Urdu language. Twenty thousand documents written in Urdu and Persian are still there in the National Archive. The problem is not to preserve the language rather it is to maintain the script, which is being affected day by day."
Former Head Department of Urdu Jamia Millia Islamia Professor Qazi Obaidur Rahman Hashmi said it is right to say that Hali was a poet of the past, Akbar Allahabadi of the present and Iqbal of the future. That is why the relevance of Iqbal is intact even after the passage of so great a period.
Professor Hashmi added that Iqbal had a keen eye on the rise and fall of Muslim Ummah; that is why he is seen giving message to the Muslims at every step.
"Iqbal used to complain of the lack of educational awareness in the Muslim society. This is what others are saying today," he said.
Justice Siddiqui conferred honours on Saeed Suharwardi for Urdu journalism, Professor Malikzada Manzoor Ahmad for Urdu literature, Abu Masood Azhar Ghauri for Urdu fiction, Professor Muhammad Hasan for Urdu criticism, and Maulana Asim Amrohwi for Urdu Calligraphy.
Justice Suhail also released International Urdu Conference Souvenir.