Urdu has the potential to become one of UN languages: Wajid

 

London: Urdu  being lingua franca of South Asia has always served as a binding force  among the  people of  various regions of subcontinent and with its potential to grow as a  popular  language it will  sustain itself  as  one of the most widely  spoken  language  of  the world .   These views were expressed by Pakistan High commissioner to the UK Mr. Wajid Shamsul Hasan while addressing the concluding session of a two day International Urdu Seminar and Mushaira held under the auspices of  Urdu Tehreek Alami and  Urdu Society of School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) on Saturday, 19 June.  Scholars from academic institutions of  UK and other parts of the world including Professor  Mohammad Zahid of  Aligarh Muslim University, Dr. Zahid Ali Khan Professor Moscow University , Mr. Sharif Murad Chief Executive Educational and Literary Academy Germany,  Ms. Uzma Siddiqui scholar of Urdu based in Germany and Dr. Ghaffar Azm  President  Urdu Tehreek Alami  presented papers on various aspects of  Urdu .

 

While reiterating full support  for the promotion of Urdu at international level Mr. Hasan said the Pakistan  High Commission has always  welcomed and supported  literary  activities aimed at  popularising  Urdu among the  Diaspora  particularly younger   generation of  Pakistani origin. He said that Urdu is ranked among the  few most  widely  spoken  and understood languages of the world.  It is not only the widely  spoken  language of South Asia but in UK it is ranked  as second most popular  language  after the English. He added that as  many  young people  opt for Urdu at GCSEs  there was  a need to  set up institutions for quality  teaching  and coaching of  academic and spoken  Urdu.

 

The High Commissioner further added that, though,  Urdu is not  a very old   language  in  span of  only  8 centuries it has achieved the status of  lingua franca in one of the  most  populous regions  of the world.  Referring to strengths of  Urdu Mr. Hasan further said that it  has been  retained  by the people of Sub continent no matter where  they  migrated thus Urdu has spread as popular language in the  Middle East , Europe , America and Africa which makes it  a fair contender to become one of the  UN languages.

Besides the High Commissioner,  the concluding session was addressed by Dr. Ghaffar Azm of Urdu Tehreek Alami, professor Mohammad Zahid of Aligarh Muslim University ,  Mr. Sharif Murad Chief Executive Educational and Literary Academy  Germany, Mr. Taha Qureshi Head of London City College. Dr. Tanvir Akhtar Editor Monthly Urdu Magazine Sahil, Shahid Dastgir Khan, Human Rights activist ,Uzma Siddiqui scholar based in Germany, Ms. Zohra Naseem of Urdu Tehreek and others.

 

Dr. Ghaffar Azm strongly  advocated for   establishing  educational institutions for the teaching and  promotion of  Urdu language in  the UK . Professor Mohammad Zahid informed that Aligarh Muslim   University has the distinction of being biggest modern  university of the Muslims with over 42,000 students enrolled  in various fields including engineering and medicines as well as  the  biggest Urdu department with  a strong  teaching  faculty of  27  professors.  Mr. Shafi Murad highlighted the need to promote Urdu  language at all the possible  levels  matching to capacities of individuals and organizations. Mr. Taha Qureshi emphasized the need to carry out  research and development  projects and committed to meet 25% share for establishing any academic institution for teaching of Urdu.

 

At the end recommendations were  presented and it was propped that Dr. Ghaffar Azm  Fund would be created  with the view to organize  activities for the  promotion of Urdu and setting up  academic institutions for its teaching.    

 

 

June 20, 2010

 

 

Last updated: 20 June 2010