KARACHI, Nov 19 The third day of the 2nd International Urdu Conference began on Thursday with a session entitled 'Urdu language and literature and the media'. Journalist Farhad Zaidi presided over the sitting.

Prof Tausif Ahmed was the first one to speak on the subject. He traced the history of Urdu's development, and praised the roles of newspapers and radio in highlighting Urdu's importance. However, he said, the language used by today's electronic media leaves much to be desired and is impacting Urdu newspapers.

Columnist Musarrat Jabeen's piece was peppered with anecdotes pointing out the childish mistakes that newspapers often carry. She began by quoting an incident when a Hollywood film Bhowani Junction, starring Ava Gardner, was being shot at Lahore's railway station. One journalist mistakenly translated the English word 'fan' used in a news creed as pankhey, whereas it meant Ava's admirers (fans). She said though Devnagri script is widely used in India, quality Urdu is employed in Indian films and lyric writing. She mentioned when the British first came to the subcontinent they were taken in by the Urdu language and some of them not only learned it but also started composing poetry in it. However, when they saw that people here were overawed by the English language, they changed their ways.

Ms Jabeen said since the common man tends to learn from the media, it's the media's responsibility to present Urdu in a manner that befits the language's stature, because these days mediamen don't attach much importance to factors like the correct pronunciation or cadences of words.

Media person Sabih Mohsin feared that Urdu's future is in danger. He gave the example of his granddaughter, an A-level student, who reads English language books with ease, but finds it difficult to understand Urdu in entirety.

Writer Masood Asher said there was a time when on Radio Pakistan they used to hire a person to rectify or identify people's mistakes that they would commit while speaking in Urdu. He added that news editors at TV channels should at least inform their anchors of the meaning of words such as 'fareeqain' which is often wrongly used. Poetess SCHOLAR Ahmed Javed speaks at a session of the Urdu conference on Thursday.—White Star

Kishwar Naheed claimed that these days not many educated individuals can be found in the field of journalism. She lamented the fact that on TV channels politicians like Saad Rafiq are invited to speak on Allama Iqbal and actresses like Reema are asked to express her views on Urdu. It's a sorry state of affairs, she concluded.

Journalist Ghazi Salahuddin started off his talk by quoting from Javed Naqvi's column published in Thursday's Dawn which was on the topic under discussion. He then went on to discuss the poor state of book and newspaper-reading culture in Pakistan. He supported his argument by telling the attendees that a great book published in Urdu, Ghulam Bagh, could initially sell only 500 copies in Pakistan whereas 8,000 copies of a novel written in English by a Pakistani author, A Case of Exploding Mangoes, were sold.

Mr Salahuddin commented that the electronic media is keeping the Urdu language alive, because if a reporter reporting from a place like Dera Ghazi Khan is speaking in Urdu, he should be praised, since it's not his mother tongue.

Television personality and documentary filmmaker Obaidullah Baig disagreed with some of the early speakers and said nothing in the world can harm the Urdu language and its future is in good hands. He particularly appreciated the role of Radio Pakistan and PTV in helping and promoting not only Urdu but other regional languages spoken in Pakistan. He said Urdu should be spoken no matter what accent or dialect one adopts.

Broadcaster Agha Nasir laid emphasis on the importance of 'new media' and said that technologies like the Internet and telecommunication devices cannot be stopped from making inroads into the media, and one has to accept them with open arms.

Journalist Farhad Zaidi talked about Urdu language script, and cited the example of India where Devnagri is now widely used. He said Urdu's script must be given due importance if it's to survive and prosper.

The second important session of the day, Yaad-i-Raftagan, was presided over by poet Ahmed Javed, Prof Sahar Ansari, and poetess Fahmida Riaz. The sitting turned out to be pretty emotional one, particularly when poetess Fatima Hasan read out a paper on Munir Niazi, she couldn't control her feelings and broke into tears. Shahid Rassam's homage to Jamal Ehsani also made his voice trail off. Poet Javed Saba very sensitively discussed some of Karachi's unsung heroes in poetry. Fahmida Riaz shed light on two of Karachi's important writers Zeeshan Sahil and Mohammad Khalid Akhtar, and praised the former for his poetic talent and his ability to not let his disability come in his way. Ahmed Javed's tribute to Aziz Hamid Madani was scholarly, claiming that the poet belonged to the tradition set by a literary giant like Ghalib. Dr Aslam Farrukhi briefly talked about Fahmida Riaz's translation of Rumi's ghazals and said it will trail a blaze in Urdu poetry.