PESHAWAR: Speakers at a function here on Thursday said that Urdu was a symbol of national unity and enjoyed golden traditions owing to its refinement and beauty of expressions.

The function was organised at Islamia College University by the ‘student societies’ to mark annual Urdu day. Students, teachers and Urdu lovers attended the event.

Around 20 students participated in the Urdu speech contest.

Annual Urdu day observed at Islamia College University

Noted Urdu poet Dr Izharullah Izhar in his brief speech said that Urdu was a symbol of national unity and enjoyed golden tradition owing to its refinement and beauty of expressions. He said that most scientific and research terminologies and scholarship had found place in Urdu. He said that Urdu also represented a wholesome culture and could be compared to major languages of the world.

Senior writer Bushra Farrukh, who was chief guest on the occasion, said that Urdu had all the current literary genres. She said that all the modern literary developments were being translated into Urdu which meant it was a rich storehouse of every kind of knowledge.

“Besides a symbol of national integration, Urdu is also the name of culture and golden tradition. Students must read Urdu literature along with their respective mother tongues,” said Ms Farrukh.

Sania Mumtaz, a student, in her speech said that men in most cases were responsible for denying rights to women when it came to access to quality education, healthcare and job.

Prof Abaseen Yousafzai, patron-in-chief of the student societies, said that poets and writers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa contributed to Urdu literature. He said that he felt proud that Ahmad Faraz, Prof Mohsin Ehsan, Sajjad Babar, Khatir Ghaznavi, and many others belonged to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The event was held in three sessions. The first session was devoted to Urdu speech competition titled ‘Whether men and women could be equal?’ In which Lateefullah, Azmatullah and Hasan Ali got first, second and third position respectively.

A quiz regarding the history, poetry, fiction and evolution of Urdu was held among the students in the second session while in the third round an Urdu poetry competition was conducted in which first, position went to Attaur Rahman while Raishma and Qandeel Salim shared the second slot and Laraib Bostan got the third position.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2019