Thursday, February 17, 2005

"Urdu belongs to us"

"Out of prejudice, we should not attach the language to any religion. Urdu is an Indian language; it is born in India. It’s not even a Pakistani language; it belongs to us. It’s not a language of Muslims, but of Indians."

How very factual. Urdu couldn’t have been defended any better, as by its avid lover: renowned lyrists and filmmaker, Gulzar.

This is an extract from the piece published sometime back in Milli Gazette. The article also speaks about National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL), a goverment body dedicated for the revival and promotion of the language.

"In the aftermath of partition, it was felt that Urdu was the language of a religious minority and would not survive. That has not happened", says Dr M Hamidullah Bhat, director NCPUL.

You can read the complete article at: http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/2004/01-15Feb04-Print-Edition/011502200473.htm.
It’s an informative article; and, among other things, it also speaks about the way Internet is helping in making the langauge popular.

~ Manzoor Khan

2 comments:

iFaqeer said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
iFaqeer said...

I would only disagree with your comment ending "...but of Indians". There are millions of people who also consider it their language in Pakistan, Canada, Britain, the US...where do I stop?