By TCN News,
Aligarh: Academics on Wednesday blamed the hostile governments for the decline of Urdu language and said all Urdu Associations should merge to fight for the cause of Urdu language.
“Urdu is a secular language which is spoken by each and every sect and in each and every region of the country. For the protection of Urdu language, all the Urdu Associations should merge in one association and fight for the cause of Urdu language,” Mohammad Qamar-E-Alam, chairman, Women and Children Board, Uttar Pradesh, said at a seminar ‘Urdu Zubaan Ka Farogh’ here.
Sitting Prof. Shakeel Samdani, Qamre Alam, Prof. M Zahid and others
The seminar was organised by Uttar Pradesh Teachers Association at Muktakash, Exhibition Ground here, a release said.
Chief speaker of the seminar, Professor Shakeel Samdani – president of Sir Syed Awareness Forum and senior faculty at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) – said: “Urdu is not a foreign language. It was born and brought up in India but unfortunately declining in India. The reason for its decline is the hostile attitude of successive governments.”
Stating that in south and central India, Urdu has retained its past glory and that Urdu is progressing in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, Samdani said, “Uttar Pradesh is the state where no Urdu medium school exists due to certain rules where it is legally not possible to open Urdu medium schools.”
He further said the Supreme Court has declared Urdu as the second official language of Uttar Pradesh and ruling Samajwadi Party had promised to open Urdu medium schools and polytechnics in Muslim concentrated areas. “But so far no Urdu medium school has been opened by the government.”
Samdani requested the Urdu loving people to pressurise the Uttar Pradesh government to rectify the government rules as well as to open Urdu medium government schools.
Samdani asked the audience to popularise Urdu language in the society and subscribe at least one Urdu newspaper, one Urdu digest and one Urdu magazine for the family.
Presiding over the seminar, Professor Mohammad Zahid of AMU said, “Urdu is that language which opened the door of broad mindedness and positive thinking. But this sweet language is struggling for its survival in India.”
Ali Haider Rizvi, Dr Masood, A Sami Khan and Rehana Shahin also expressed their views on the occasion. Convenor of the programme Nasim Shahid welcomed the guests. The programme was conducted by Irfan Jamali. Some Urdu teachers were also felicitated on this occasion.