KARACHI, Dec 31: Is Urdu going to survive in future, say after hundred or even 50 years? The question came under discussion at Irteqa Literary Forum on Sunday.

After brief introductory remarks coming from Rahat Saeed, Prof Saher Ansari expressed his optimism about Urdu’s fate in a moderate tone, explaining the points going against it.

Urdu did not belong to any of the province which were demarcated as a part of Pakistan in 1947 and yet it was and continues to remain as the most popular language of the country, of course after Punjabi. Not being identified with any particular province in Pakistan, this fact went in favour of Urdu and also against it. During the independence movement, Urdu was used as a vehicle of communication and political discourse. But in India it was badly treated by the government, the promotion of Hindi as the state policy and neglected by the bureaucracy in Pakistan. Urdu in India was being presented as Hindi. Written in ‘deonagri’ script, any way it will not die, despite the change of identity. In Pakistan, with the passage of time, Urdu had planted its roots in this land and the only language which was its rival was English. Concluding, Prof Saher asked: Against the rising tide of technology, will Urdu be able to stand it?

Dr Mohammad Siddiqui was rather sceptical when he said that Urdu shall survive only as on oral language for limited common use otherwise there was no cause to be optimistic about its fate. No language can sustain without classical support for long. Hindi had Sanskrit as its back and English had Latin as its base. Urdu got its lifeblood from Persian, which was ousted from the schools soon after independence. Even history and geography were banished. After being deprived of a classical language support, the concept of correct and idiomatic Urdu, also the right pronunciation had lost their meaning. The elegant prose and genuine pronunciation were now ridiculed in respectable gatherings, taken as “uncivilised”. Pakistani society was shedding away Urdu and “we are fending our children to later supply them to the Western markets”, Siddiqui lamented, and remarked that after five years or so, an Urdu teacher capable of teaching Ghalib to the wards will not be available. Even capable sub- editors in Urdu paper were hardly available these days, he said. Siddiqui further pointed out that Urdu had no “market” as jobs were available only to English knowing persons. With some difference, Hindi in India was best with the same problem. Concluding, he strongly advocated that Persian and Arabic should again be introduced in school and college curriculum.

But the air of despair which came with Siddique’s note was dispelled, at least for some time, when Wahid Bashir informed that Hindi in India was the language of minority, while Urdu in all major urban centres was regarded as the language of culture and of civilised people. It is the responsibility of mothers to teach Urdu to children, in the way they learnt Arabic. This practice will keep the language alive and flourishing, he said.

Earlier, the meeting started with a very warm and welcome address for the noted short-story writer and columnist Ms Zaheda Hina who was awarded the prestigious SAARC literary award at a moot in New Delhi on Dec 13 2001. The Indian President R. K. Narain was giving the award just when the Indian Parliament was attacked by terrorists, Zaheda told the audience who had come to great her. Dignitaries like V.P. Singh and I. K. Gujral and intellectuals like Bhisham Saheni, Khushwant Singh and many others were present at the Saarc moot.

The foundation of Saarc literature and writers was founded at its first meeting in 1987. The second meeting was held in 1999 and the third in the year 2000. Ms Zaheda was the second recipient of the Saarc award, first being a writer from Bangladesh.

The citation eulogising Zaheda at New Delhi was read out at Irteqa meeting, and welcomed with cheers.

Ms Humera Khaleeq, an erstwhile teacher of Zaheda at a local school, read out an article giving full marks to her most outstanding, courageous and learned student. —Hasan Abidi