Saturday, May 14, 2005

Urdu-Speaking Wikipedia Users

Urdu-speaking users of the English Wikipedia can now identify themselves with a "Babel tag", a User language template that puts standard text on their user page saying:

urThis user is a native speaker of Urdu.
یہ شخص صاحِبِ زبانِ اردو ہے


All you have to do is put the following text on your User Page:

{{user ur}}

See the following page for details:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Babel

and my own user page for an example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:IFaqeer
آدابAdaab,
فقیر-iiFaqeer

8 comments:

افتخار اجمل بھوپال said...

One thing is not clear. Commonly known as "Ahl-e-Zbaan" are the people who migrated to Pakistan from Urdu-speaking areas of India. Then there are people who are not among them but know Urdu very well. So, whom you want to write "Ahl-e-Zbaan" on their blog ?

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

This is not about blogs. It is only specifically for users of the English-language edition of the Wikipedia, (a free and open encyclopedia). Just that one version of that one project.

Secondly, we need to get out of the ethnic designation and all the chauvinism associated with it. The purpose of this label and all the others like it that are listed at the link I proivded is to help identify the level of competency of various users with the languages they know. But even if you do want to address the wider issue, and this is as good a time and as good a forum as any to do that, the most appropriate meaning of "Saahib-e-Zabaan" (and, when you think about it, the literal meaning) is about the same as the meaning that the Wikpedia itself has for a "Native Speaker" of any language (not just Urdu, any language):

"if you're a native speaker or have a grasp of the language comparable to a native speaker".

For example, I consider myself just such a native speaker of English. In fact, if you really got down to brass tacks, my competency with English is higher my skill with Urdu. On the other hand, if you stayed with the chauvinistic ethnic classification, I could very well be smug in my links to Lucknow and Allahabad and call myself much more Saahib-e-Zabaan than say, Faiz Ahmed Faiz or Ahmed Faraz--or even Iqbal. (Allah mu'aaf karay for even entertaining the thought!)

iFaqeer
http://iFaqeer.blogspot.com

افتخار اجمل بھوپال said...

I had asked the question about Ahl-e-Zbaan because the word Shakhs شخص is written as Sakhsh سخش which is wrong and may perhaps be found in ethnic Urdu.

iFaqeer said...

You could have just pointed it out as a typo. :D

Anonymous said...

Sunday, September 10, 2006
Hyderabad based Munsif and Siasat Urdu Daily Editors grab Waqf Lands : Akbaruddin Owaisi
MiM Floor leader in assembly Akbaruddin Owaisi with MiM party MLAs
HYDERABAD BASED MUNSIF AND SIASAT URDU DAILY EDITORS GRAB WAQF LANDS
Urdu Media War and the Wakf properties tussle in Hyd ; MiM Leader Akbaruddin Owaisi
(Friday, Dec 09, 2005 - 09:00 pm) TeamMedia war among Urdu dailies was taken to Assembly in Hyderabad, when MIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi accused Siasat and Munsif Urdu daily owners of grabbing Wakf properties and demanded stern action against them.Mr Owaisi armed with statistics and details of all Waqf Lands which are being encroached upon said govt is going soft on these editors as they are trying to threaten the govt through there newspapers .In the same breath he also alleged that no action was taken against grabbers of Wakf properties in city and outside including Viceroy Hotel, Shaam and Sensation theatres, local reports inform. Turning his ire on owners of rival Urdu dailies, Siasat and Musif, he said, "Mr Zahid Ali Khan has illegally encroached Wakf property. He is a white collar land grabber. Why is the government keeping quite? You should put them behind bars." Shifting his heat on another Urdu daily Munsif owner, he remarked, "Mr Khan Lateef Khan...the double Khan.. too has encroached Wakf properties housing Santosh and Sapna theatres, yet no action has been taken. The government should take stringent action against encroachers of Wakf properties," he alleged. Reacting to Mr Owaisi's demand, minister for minorities welfare Mohd Fareeduddin assured that the government would enquire into the matter and would not "spare anyone however big he might be." Referring to allotment of land to one Tajuddin, he said the land was given on a lease for three years for agricultural purposes and the renewal would depend on the government He also accused them of trying to cover there illegal grabbing of land by bribing some high officals in the govt .

Anonymous said...

A Hyderabad based urdu newspaper siasat editor mr amir ali khan and mr mazhar and mr alamdar were involved in a sex racket today as exposed by MIM floor leader in the state assembly in which a young girl was sold to alleged sex racket after being brought in a trap by offering her a scholarship and then taking her to a farmhouse and raping her which are seirous offenses and even forcing her parents not to file a police complaint and threating them with dire consequences.Congress grilled on failure to check cases of kidnap The Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen on Tuesday took the Congress government to task for its alleged failure to control kidnappings and trafficking of young girls in the State, particularly Hyderabad.
Armed with statistics MIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi said Hyderabad city alone records seven cases of missing youths, including five girls, every day. As many as five children are kidnapped every day on an average. The MIM leader said 1,118 cases of kidnap and missing of children were registered in Hyderabad during 2004 and of this 353 cases were registered within Cyberabad police limits. In 2005, 511 cases of kidnap and missing of children were recorded.
With regard to missing of youths, particularly girls, Mr Owaisi said 3476 such cases were registered during 2005. Of these only 1714 cases were traced. About 80 per cent of all missing persons are young girls who are kidnapped by professional human trafficking gangs. “There is a heavy demand for Andhra girls in other States. The kidnapped girls are sold in brothels outside the State. The CID has reported the existence of as many as 32 such gangs in the State. Andhra Pradesh has now become number one State in the country in terms of missing children,” the MIM leader pointed out.
Answering supplementary during the Question Hour, Home minister K. Jana Reddy said the AP High Court had observed the man missing cases are not cognisable offences and police need not register them. A note in the general register will suffice. However, as a social obligation police are tracing the missing persons.
The Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen on Tuesday took the Congress government to task for its alleged failure to control kidnappings and trafficking of young girls in the State, particularly Hyderabad.
Armed with statistics MIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi said Hyderabad city alone records seven cases of missing youths, including five girls, every day. As many as five children are kidnapped every day on an average. The MIM leader said 1,118 cases of kidnap and missing of children were registered in Hyderabad during 2004 and of this 353 cases were registered within Cyberabad police limits. In 2005, 511 cases of kidnap and missing of children were recorded.
With regard to missing of youths, particularly girls, Mr Owaisi said 3476 such cases were registered during 2005. Of these only 1714 cases were traced. About 80 per cent of all missing persons are young girls who are kidnapped by professional human trafficking gangs. “There is a heavy demand for Andhra girls in other States. The kidnapped girls are sold in brothels outside the State. The CID has reported the existence of as many as 32 such gangs in the State. Andhra Pradesh has now become number one State in the country in terms of missing children,” the MIM leader pointed out.
Answering supplementary during the Question Hour, Home minister K. Jana Reddy said the AP High Court had observed the man missing cases are not cognisable offences and police need not register them. A note in the general register will suffice. However, as a social obligation police are tracing the missing persons.

Anonymous said...

Alarming to read about Munsif and Siasat. Perhaps such items should also be posted on the more popular Hyderabad sites too.