PESHAWAR, May 1: Participants in a seminar here have expressed concern over the decline of Urdu language and stressed the need for efforts to restore the lost place of the language which is a part of the nation’s heritage.

“Urdu has a lucid expressions, an attractive vocabulary and rich poetry. But with the rise of English language Urdu has been placed on the back burner resulting in the neglect of this great language,” said Mumtaz Gul, Vice-Chancellor, University of Peshawar, at a certificate distribution ceremony held at the conclusion of a six-day training workshop for Urdu lecturers of various colleges of district Peshawar at the Urdu department on Sunday.

The workshop was organized by the department of Urdu in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Islamabad.

The event was attended by the dean, Faculty of Oriental Languages and Islamic Studies, Prof Dr Qibla Ayaz; Chairman of the Department Prof Ziaur Rehman, Prof Fida Hussain, Director HEC Bashir Beg and teachers.

The vice-chancellor said that Urdu was historically entrenched in our culture and the time had come to revitalize it and enrich it with well thought-out efforts.

He called upon teachers to accord top priority to their profession and remain focussed and be honest to the sacred profession of teaching.

Mr Gul promised that due perks and privileges would be given to teachers so that the best people in the society could take up the profession of teaching as a job in future.

He was appreciative of the efforts of HEC saying that the commission was not only supporting the university in the area of development of its infrastructure but its support was also laudable for the growth of its various faculties.

In response to the charter of demands of the department, the vice-chancellor announced 20 computers for the Urdu department and Rs100,000 for the department’s magazine.

Commenting upon the importance of holding such workshops, Mr Gul said that these events were extremely useful as they helped the teachers to share their experiences and enhance their professional competency.

Earlier, Dean of the Faculty Dr Qibla Ayaz in his speech thanked the vice-chancellor for taking keen interest in the academic growth of the university.

He lauded the department for taking initiative in arranging such training workshop.