By TCN Staff Reporter,
Patna: Advocating the status of second official language of the country for Urdu, Union New and Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah exhorted Urdu speakers to stand united and launch peaceful movement to get the language its due rights.
He was speaking at a symposium organized by Urdu Council on the topic “Future of Urdu in the Country” in the memory of freedom fighter Shah Mushtaq Ahmad at Anjuman Islamia Hall in Patna on 20th Feb. 2011.
He said that partition of India harmed the Urdu language as some communal elements propagated that Urdu is the language of Pakistan and Hindi is the language of India. But the matter of fact is that a huge population who speaks Urdu lives in India.
He promised that he would consult all Urdu-speaking MPs and raise the issue in the coming budget session of Parliament. “We will meet Prime Minister with a proposal to call chief ministers’ conference to improve the condition of Urdu across the country” he said.
Criticizing Bihar government for not taking solid step for the implementation of Urdu, he said: “Though Urdu has been given status of second official language in Bihar but it has not been fully implemented. This shows the apathy of government towards promotion of Urdu.”
In his address, famous Urdu poet Mallikzada Manzoor Ahmad also emphasized to make a pressure group to achieve the status of the second official language of the country.
Others who spoke on the occasion include NCP MP Tariq Anwar who is the son of freedom fighter Shah Mushtaq Ahmad, RJD MLA Akhtarul Iman, Former Minister Shamael Nabi and Prof. Alimullah.