KARACHI: Eminent writer Dr Shamsur Rehman Farooqui lamented the scarcity of Urdu language teachers from school to University level of language teaching.

Implementation of Urdu and its adoption in educational institutions was one thing but what was worrying him was the declining standard of teaching. There were teachers who could not correctly read even one page of Mir or Faiz.

Farooqui's other lament was the poverty of literate class and of those persons who could not speak a few sentences in plain Urdu without the support of half a dozen English words.

Dr Farooqui was speaking at the launch of the poetry collection Kaheen Kuch Kho Gaya hai by Mir Zafar Hasan, Sohni Dharti Youth Council and the Qalam Dost being the hosts, on Tuesday.

Dr Farrukhi and Professor Saher Ansari were the special guests. Ms Khushbakht Shujaat, Mobin Mirza and Shujaat Beg were among the speakers. Dr. Farooqui who supported the views of Ms Khushbakht regarding the deplorable teaching of Urdu at primary level, had earlier expressed the same feelings at a reception held in his honour at the Urdu University.

Dr Farooqi was highly critical of those persons who ignored Urdu vocabulary and idioms and were looking for English words, like throwing away their gold for metal coins. While admiring Mir Zafar's images and choice of words, Dr Farooqui said poets were great because they had kept the words alive and enriched it with the force of their imagination.

Dr. Aslam Farrukhi spoke lavishly about Dr. Farooqui's contribution to literature. He also praised most of the verses in the poetry collection. Ms Shaista Vahedi and Naila Jaafri recited some of those verses to the delight of many.

Prof Saher Ansari praised Mir Zafar for writing poems, rich in expression instead of ghazals. Ahmed Rasool and Adil Ibrahim also spoke about the poet and of their future plans regarding the youth. Ambreen Habib did the compering.